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•71 







H-3 -J 

< :. 



HISTOEY 



OF THE 



Lower Shenandoah Valley 

coi|nties of 

FREDERICK, BERKELEY, JEFFERSON AND CLARKE, 



THEIR EARLY SETTLEMENT AND PROGRESS TO. THE PRESENT TIME 
GEOLOGICAL FEATURES ; A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR HISTORIC 
AND INTERESTING LOCALITIES ; CITIES, TOWNS AND VIL- 
LAGES ; PORTRAITS OF SOME OF THE PROMINENT 
MEN, AND BIOGRAPHIES OF MANY OF 
THE REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS. 



r/ 



EDITED BY J. E. I^ORItlS. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



CHICAGO, ILLINOIS : 

A. WARNER & CO., PUBLISHERS. 

1890. 



F 






^ 



€ 



w^ 



John Morris Company, 
printers, 

118 AND 120 Monroe Street, 
CHICAGO, ILL. 



PREFACE. 



IN presenting to the patrons and readers of the History of the Lower 
Shenandoah Valley this completed volume, the compiler of the work 
wishes to call attention to some facts and circumstances connected there- 
with. To write a history of a section of country, a knowledge of which 
at the outset of the task, except in a general way, is entirely lacking, 
would seem to the casual thinker an extremely impracticable under- 
taking. One would think that a resident of long standing of the section 
selected would be the proper person to compile and write the history 
of that section. Yet one who is a comparative stranger, who comes 
perfectly unbiased on all matters, who has no prejudices in regard to 
any of those with whom he may come in contact, who has "no friends 
to reward and no enemies to punish" — this person presents qualifi- 
cations for the work that will readily be recognized, and especially is 
that individual fitted for it if he be in sympathy with the inhabitants 
of whose ancestors he may write. That such are the facts in the 
present instance is well known, and the compiler hereof is proud to 
say that he is a Virginian, and "to the manner born" of that grand 
old commonwealth. 

Coming, then, to the Valley with such antecedents, and upon the 
mission he did, it was but natural that kindness should meet him on 
all sides, and especially in States that have always been noted for 
their "courage, courtesy and hospitality." The attentions the compiler 
has received from all persons, the facilities afforded him for obtaining 
the information soiight, the valuable and ancient documents placed at 
his disposal, the libraries opened to him without a single restriction in 
any case, and the interviews accorded him by all classes of residents 
without stint or cavil, have made his work a positive pleasure, and 



PBEFACE. 

words are but poor symbols to here acknowledge in fitting terms the 
many obligations he rests under for those favors so freely given. 

In consideration of this state of affairs, it would be a sad .return 
for this kindness, to foist upon the courteous citizens of the Valley a 
history hastily compiled. Therefore, the writer has endeavored, regard- 
less of time or expense, to arrive at the true state of all matters upon 
which he has touched, from the time the knightly Spottswood and his 
gallant retainers pressed their chargers forward to the brow of Swift 
Run Gap in 1716, to the present time. That he has accomplished that 
which he set about doing in the fall of 1888 the reader must decide. 
That his dates and facts are correct on all important matters can be 
verified by an examination of the public records which are open to all. 
He has straightened out a few crooked lines that have always been 
perplexing, and he has placed the first settlers and settlements where 
they undoubtedly belong. 

With the feeling of having performed his task worthily, the com- 
piler feels no hesitation in placing his work before the critical eyes 
of the citizens of the Valley, and would here say: To the officers of 
the various courts of the counties comprised in the work; to the offi- 
cials of the towns and villages of the entire section; to the pastors of 
churches, and to the officers and members of all organizations, social, 
manufacturing and otherwise; and to the press, which, without a single 
exception in the four counties, have made frequent complimentary men- 
tion of the compiler and his work, the writer hereof wishes to offer 
his sincere thanks. J. E. NORRIS. 




CONTENTS. 



* > » < ♦ 



PAGE. 
CHAPTER I. — IXTKODUCTORY. — The 

Discoverers of America — Raleigh's Ex- 
pedition — The Origin of the Name Vir- 
ginia — The London and Plynioutli 
Companies — Lords Hopton and Cole- 
pepper — Settlement of JamestoM'n — 
General Assembly of the Common- 
wealth — Instructions to Gov. Wyatt — 
First Acts of Assembly — Counties Or- 
ganized — Benjamin Symnis — Berke- 
ley's Infamous Report — Frederick 
County Created — A Sparse Population 
— The Northern Neck of Virginia — 
History of the Culpepper-Fairfax 
Grant 9-32 

CHAPTER II.— Physical Features.— 
Geology — Its Application to Agricult- 
ure — Theory on the Origin of Matter — 
Nature's Great Forces — Prehistoric 
Life — Outlines of Geological Study — 
Fertility of the Valley^Mineral Re- 
sources — Timber — The Garden of Vir- 

^ ginia — Splendor of the Scenery — What 
the Valley Originally was — And What 
it Now is 23-34 

CHAPTER III.— Indians and Pkehis- 
TOKio. — The Ancient Aborigines — The- 
ories of Their Origin — Their Vast Antiq- 
uity — Were They Autochthons? — The 
Conquering Mound-Builders — The 
Montczumas and the Incas — The Zunis 
— The Indian as a Savage — The Border- 
ers — The Shawnees and Cornstalk — 
Indian Conflicts — Indian Settlements — 
Shawnee Spring and Cabins — Charac- 
ter of the Indian 34-49 

CHAPTER IV.— First Settlers and 
Settlements. — Expedition of Gov. 
Spotswood— The Knights of the Gold- 
en Ilorsehoe — Arrival of First Set- 
tlers — New Mecklinburg — The Mor- 
gans — First Cabin — The Hollings- 
worths, Hites and Others — Quaker Set- ' 
tlements — Early Grants — National ties 
and Religions — Fairfax va. Hite ct al. — 
Settlement Retarded — List of the Sur- 
veys Made by Washington for Lord 
Fairfax 49-70 

CHAPTER v.— Organization of Fred- 
erick County. — Appointment of Offi- 
cers — First Court in 1743 — Jail, Pillory, 
Stocks and Whipping Post — Ordinaries 
Licensed — First Grand Jury and Pre- 
sentments — Duncan OguUion — The 
First Deed — Some Early Land Trans- 
fers — Vestal's Iron Works — First 



tage 
County Levy — Injustice and Inhuman- 
ity — Arrival of Lord Fairfax — First 
Court-Housc — List of Early Roads. . .70-90 

CHAPTER VI. — Winchester and 
Washington's Early Operations. — 
Laying ofE Frederick Town — First 
Street— Prison Bounds — Establishment 
of Winchester — Origin of the Name — 
Washington's Mission — His Ancestry 
— French Encroachments — Battle of 
Great Meadows — Fort Necessity — 
Population of the Lower Valley — Indi- 
an Atrocities — John Harrow m. G. 
Washington — Braddock's Defeat — 
Washington's Splendid Letter — Win- 
chester in 1756 — Building of Fort Lou- 
don — History Repeated — Capt. Bul- 
litt's Exploit — Caj^ture of Fort Du- 
quesne — The Small-Pox — Death of 
Clerk Wood 90-124 

CHAPTER VII.— The Revolutionary 
Period and Morgan. — Soldiers of the 
Valley — Causes of the Revolution — 
Bursting of the Storm — Origin of Gen. 
Daniel Morgan: His First Military 
-\ppointment; as a Custodian; His 
First Command — The Famous Valley 
Company — The Dutch Mess — Storm- 
ing of Quebec — Muhlenburg and Hel- 
phenstine — First Court Under the New 
Regime — The Quakers — Taking the 
Oath — Saratoga — Cowpens — Col. Will- 
iam Augustine Washington — The 
Whisky Insurrection — Morgan in Con- 
gress — His Character — His Grave. ..134-127 

CHAPTER VIII.— One Hundred Years 
Ago. — Incorporation of Winchester — 
Post-Revolutionary Boom - 'Splendid 
Early Schools — First Newspapers in 
the Valley — Grandiloquent Salutatory 
— Some Fancy Figures — First Fire Com- 
panies — Noted Taverns — Establish- 
ment of Manufactories — Theatricals — 
Prominent Merchants — Young Ladies' 
Seminary — Fine Stores — First Adams 
Express Company — Post-Office — In- 
dentured Servants — Shaved Heads and 
"Iron Collar" — Just Received from 
Cork — Vote of the County — Grand Cel- 
ebration and Barbecue of 1788 — De- 
scription of Parade — First Execution — 
Brief, but to the Point — List of Jus- 
tices — Longevity of Old Clerks 147-170 

CHAPTER IX. — Frederick County 
AND Winchester After 1800. — Pop- 
ulation of County and County Seat — 



VI 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Early Water Supply — Disastrous 
Floods— Old Stackhouse Mill— War of 
1812-14 — Revolutionary Veterans — The 
Valley again to the Front — Another 
Morgan Appears — The First Company 
and Their Uniform — Lists of all Names 
Obtainable — Description of Old Court- 
House and Jail— "Black Betty"— Pil- 
lory and Stocks — Ye Ancient Market 
House — Dramatic Entertainments — 
Louis Phillippe in Search of a Din- 
ner — List of Corporation Officers — Va- 
rious Proceedings of the Council — 
Fire Engines and Houses — Scared 
Councilmen — Sharp Spasm of Im- 
provement — Reminiscences and Anec- 
dotes — William Greenwaj' — Sarah Zane 
— Stores, Stage Lines, Teaming, Dress, 
etc r 170-191 

CHAPTER X.— MoBERX Frederick axd 
THE Towxs. — The Bench and Bar — 
Eminent Early Settlers — Their Famous 
Descendants — Lists of Lawyers — Some 
Noted Names — Superior Court of 
Chancery — Judge Tucker's Law School 
— Claims for the First Church — Theo- 
ries Thereon — Rev. William Williams — 
Centenary Reformed Church — Evan- 
gelical Lutheran Church — Presbyte- 
rian Churches — Methodist Episcopal 
Churches — Catholic Church — United 
Brethren Church — Friends' Meeting 
House — Baptist, Christian, Church of 
God and Colored Churches — The Ceme- 
teries — Honors to the Heroic Dead — 
Educational — Splendid Schools — Fire 
Companies — Public Improvements — 
Industries — Societies — Stephens City, 
Middletown, and the Villages — General 
Summing Up 191-219 

CHAPTER XL— Orgaxizatiox of Berk- 
eley CorxTY. — Act of Creation — The 
Organization — First Justices — Their 
Duties Formulated — SberifE, Clerk and 
Attorneys — Gabriel Jones and Alexan- 
der White — The Whipping Post — Rate 
of Taxation — A Judgment in favor of 
G. Washington — Mystery of "Morgan's 
Spring" Explained — Countj- Seat — 
Prison Bounds — Generals Horatio Gates 
and Charles Lee — A Nice Law Point — 
Indentured Slaves — First Case of Mur- 
der — The Revolutionary Period — Easj- V 
Transition — Exit Georgius Rex — The 
New Regime — "Taking the Oath" — 
Taking Care of Soldiers' Wives— Re- 
markable Will of Gen. Charles Lee — 
Popular Fallacies in Regard to that 
Erratic Soldier — His Real Character 
and Surnjundiugs — His Death 219-242 

CHAPTER XII. — ESTABLISHMEXT OF 

MARTixsBruG. — Martinsburg before 
1772— The Act Establishing the Town 
— Gen. Adam Stephen — A Candi- 
date against Washington — Theories — 
An Election in 1789 — An Ancient Poll 
List — A Candidate's Card — A Boom in 
Martinsburg — Mr. Butler's Tavern — 
Berkeley in the Revolution — Gen. Will- 
iam Darke — Gen. Horatio Gates — 



PAGE. 

" With Braddock " — Morgan Morgan — 
Four Noted Ministers— The Bcdingers 
— Col. Crawford and Gen. Jessup — 
Felix Grundy, Nathaniel Willis and 
John R. Cook — Sketch of the Career of 
Hon. Charles James Faulkner 242-262 

CHAPTER XIII.— Primitive Towx .a.xd 
CouxTY'. — The Newspaper as a " Mir- 
ror" — Its Great Value to History — 
Some Interesting Extracts from Jour- 
nals of 1787, 1802, 1812-14 and 182.5 to 
1835 — A Wily Prisoner — Timely Adver- 
tisements — Shopping in 1811 — Fine 
Stores — A Quaker Goldsmith and Jew- 
eler — Lots of Shoemakers — Some Noted 
Taverns — War of 1812-14 — Depression 
in Values — The Martinsburg Academy 
— Library Society — Terrible Storm— 
Another Celebration and Three Fine 
Toasts — Prices Current — Disastrous 
Fires — Canal to Martinsburg — A Tem- 
perance Society — A Cyclone — Coal Dis- 
covered — Falling "Stars" — First Sched- 
ule of Baltimore eV: Ohio Railroad .. 262-279 

CHAPTER XIV.— Trustees. Couxcil- 
MEx, Courts axd Officers. — The 
Trustee Form of Government — En- 
larged Powers— The Act— First Officers 
— Nuisances — Market Rules — Trustees 
vx. Parrett — James Faulkner as a Just- 
ice — "No Property Found" — A Famous 
Dog Case — " Trustees vs. Snowdell et 
ux.'" — Spirit of Improvement — Petition 
of Faulkner, et al. — No Riding on Side- 
walks—Tax List— Old Market House- 
Incorporation of Martinsburg^ The 
Act — First Proceedings — More Im- 
provements — Fire Engines — The War 
Period — "A Messenger from Win- 
chester" — A Sad Municipal Entrv — 
From 1862 to 1865— Reorganization— - 
Still Further Improvement — A New 
Charter — List of Officers — Practicini;- 
Attorneys 279-297 

CHAPTER XV. — Moderx Martixs- 
BUKG. — The Cliurches — Educational — 
Improvements — Fine Water Sj'stem — 
Railrt)ad Shops — Newspapers — Socie- 
ties — Tornadoes and Floods — Other 
Towns of Berkeley 297-317 

CHAPTER XVI. — Some Early Set- 
tlers of Jeffersox. — Before the 
Creation of Jefferson County — Stand- 
ing of Her Early Settlers— The Old 
Packhorse Ford — The Great Indian 
Highway — The Beautiful Potomac — 
The Germans — Date of their Arrival — 
Splendor of Scenery — The East Vir- 
ginia Settlers — Tlie Cavalier Stock 
— Why the Jeffersonians Make Good 
Soldiers — The Famcms " Morgan 
Spring" Company — Captain Hugh 
Stephenson — Description of the Com- 
pany and its Start — Interesting New 
Facts About Generals Lee, Gates and 
Stephen — Their residences — Gates' Let- 
ter — Some Errors Corrected — Was Lee 
a Traitor? — Was Charles Lee the 
Author of the "Junius" Letters — Re- 
markable Coincidence 317-335 



CONTENTS. 



VII 



PAGE. 

CHAPTER XVII. — Organization of 
Jefferson Countv. — The County 
(jourt — First Commission of the Peace — 
tten. William Darke — Manumission of 
Slaves — Taverns — Erection of Public 
Buildings — Military Appointments — 
Ferdinando Fairfax — Ministers Li- 
censed — The Civil War Period — 
Prompt Patriotism — Sljepherdstown, 
the County Seat — Pieorganization — 
Restoration of tlie County Seat — Dr. S. 
J. Cramer — Thomas A. Moore — The 
Circuit Court — Its Able Judges — Rich- 
ard Parker, Ossawattomie Brown's 
Judue — A Four Years' Hiatus — Robert 
T. Brown, C. C. C— Tribute to a Good 
Man — The Later Judges — Complete 
List of Sheriffs '. 335-353 

CHAPTER XVIII. — Charlestown. — 
Early Settlers and Settlements — Brad- 
dock's Route — The Old Ruin — Primi- 
tive Sports — Cajit. William Cherry 
— Business Prospects — The Mexican 
War — Gallant Officers — Col. Ham- 
tramck — Old St. George's Chapel — A 
Pictures(iue Ruin — Sketch of the An- 
cient Landmark — Its Origin — The 
Churches — Schools — The Press — Socie- 
ties — Public Officers — Lawyers — Enter- 
prises 353-369 

CHAPTER XIX. — SlIEPlIERDSTOWN, 
MiDDLEWAY AND AViZARD ClIP. — 

First Settlers — Kolionk-ou-roo-ta — Tiie 
Germans — Estaljlishment of Mecklen- 
burg — A Ferry Contest — Partial Incor- 
poration, 1793 — The Trustee Form- 
Additions to the Town — Change of 
Name to Shepherdstown — Trouble 
Al)out the Run — Market House — Large 
Firms of 1810 — The "Cossack" Cele- 
bration — Incorporation — The " Com- 
monliall" Municipality — Mayor Henry 
Boteler — Town Officers — A Peremptory 
Order and a Scare — Another Change in 
Charter-7-Religious and Educational — 
History of the Churches — Shepherd 
College — Societies — Morgan's Grove 
Fair — Newspapers — Towns and Vil- 
lages — The Famous Legend of the 
" Wizard Clip." 369-394 

CHAPTER XX. —James Rumsey, In- 
ventor OF THE Steamboat. — Pipe 
Boiler — Other Machines — Rumsey' s 
Struggles — Proofs of Priority— The 
Boat of 1783- In Bath— Petition to Vir- 
ginia — Testimony of Gen. Washington 
— His Advice — John Fitch — His Admis- 
sion — The Secret Trial — The Steamer 
at Shenandoah Falls — Its Mishaps — Re- 
moval to Shepherdstown — Washing- 
ton's Letter— Second Trial — Eye Wit- 
nesses — The Public Trial Trip — 
Fulton's Pretensions — Congressional 
Medal to the Inventor 394-421 

CHAPTER XXL— Harper's Ferry and 
John Brown's Raid.— Early Settle- 
ment — Harper's Mill — Shenandoah 
Falls — Magnificent Scenery — Jeffer- 
son's Roclc— Washington's Portrait — 



PAGE. 

The Grand Rivers— Wild Goats— The 
Government Works — Vandalism — 
Camp Hill — Superintendent Perkins — 
Destruction of the Works — Bursting 
of a Bubble — Disappointment — Church 
and School — Grand Dedication — Dese- 
cration of the Churches — Sketches of 
Some of Them — Storer College — Mis- 
fortuues of the Ferry — The Great 
Floods — The John Brown Assassins — 
Their Atrocious Plans and Arras — 
Details of the AflEair — Gens. R. E. Lee 
and J. E. B. Stuart — Indictment and 
Trial — Perfect Impartiality — Brown's 
Own Testimony 421-448 

CHAPTER XXIL— Creation OF Clarke 
AND Some Early Matters. — Some 
Noted Earlj^ Settlers — Famous Old 
Families — Rich Lands and Fine Scen- 
ery — Organization of the Courts — First 
Officers and Lawyers — Building of 
Court-House — " Prison Bounds " Es- 
tablished — "Swearing Out" — List of 
Justices — A Blank from 1861 to 1864 — 
Military Rule — Reconstruction — List 
of Clerks and Sheriffs — Gen. George 
Rogers Clarke — Gen. Daniel Morgan — 
Adclitional Facts about the Old Wag- 
oner — Soldiers' Rest — Morgan's Stone 
Pile Forts — Washington's Surveyor's 
Office — G. W. Fairfax — The Soldier- 
Parson, Rev. Cliarles Mynn Thruston — 
Sketcli of the Old Patriot— Old Alex- 
andria Road — Braddock's March — Hes- 
sian Prisoners — Lord Dunmore's Ex- 
pedition — The Old Chapel — Cunning- 
ham's Older Structure — The Ancient 
Graveyard 448-465 

CHAPTER XXIIL— Lord Fairfax and 
Greenway Court.— Origin of the Fair- 
fax Family — Recovery of Lost Records — 
Romantic Escapade — The Fair Isabel- 
Protestant and Romanist — Witchcraft 
—The First Lord Fairfax— A Family of 
Soldiers — The Great Fairfax — Crom- 
well's Famous General — A Patriot as 
well as a Soldier — Lady Fairfax — Her 
Pluck — Buckingham's Trilmte — The 
Colepepper Alliance — Our Lord Fair- 
fax, the Sixth — Injustice Toward Him 
— Entangled in Love's Meshes — Perfidy 
of His Betrothed — The Contract — A 
Romantic Episode — Departure for 
America — Belvoir — George William 
Fairfax and George Washington — Fair- 
fax the First Patron of Washington— 
The Young Surveyors — Greenway 
Court— Death of the Old Lord— Wash- 
ington's Respect— The Fairfax Succes- 
sors 46.5^81 

CHAPTER XXIV.— Berryville or Bat- 
tle-Town.— Early Nucleus of Battle- 
Town — The Great Road to Alexandria 
—Settlers from "Over tli.^ Ridge"— 
Noted Advertisers — More about Gabriel 
Jones— Negro Harry Wanted — An Ad. 
Worth Preserving — Establishment of 
Berryville — Enlarged — The Trustee 
Form — Incorporation — Officers — The 
Churches — Grace Episcopal — Baptist — 



viii 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Presbyterian— Methodist Churches — 
Colored Churches — Green Hill Ceme- 
tery — Educational — Early Establish- 
ment of Schools, Public and Private — 
Clarke Courier — Societies— Officers — 
Manufactures, etc.— Courts — County 
Boards — Lawyers — Millwood, White 
Post and Boyce 481-50.5 

CHAPTER XXV. — The Great Civil 
War of 1861-65. — The Underlying- 
Causes of the Conflict— EarlyAnti-Slav- 
cry Sentiment and Action — The South 
on the Defensive — Culmination of 
Northern Eucroachmeuts— Election of 
a Sectional President — Proclamation 
of Emancipation— Acts of Self-protec- 
tion— Nothinj; Left but to Separate- 
Secession of South Carolina — Prepara- 
tions for War— The Valley to the Front 
—Occupation of Harper's Ferry- Col. 
Thomas J. Jackson— Appearance of the 
Immortal "Stonewall" — Gen. Johnston 
in Command- The Women of the Val- 
ley — Stuart, the "Yellow Jacket" — A 
True Cavalier — Operations Around 
Martinsburg— Removal of the Engines 
—Fight at Falling Waters— At Win- 
chester — Johnston's Brilliant Move- 
ment—Four Brave Valley Boys go to 
Their Death — Stonewall Jackson's 
Fearful March to Romney— Origin of 
the Soubriquet " Stonewall." 505-520 

CHAPTER XXVL— Operations in the 
Valley During 1862.— Banks Crosses 
the Potomac — Jackson Offers Battle, 
but is Ordered Back— Strategic Move- 
ments — Shields in Command — Battle 
of Kernstown — Jackson Retreats with 
a Small Loss— AWounded Wolf— Stone- 
wall's Wonderful Strategy— The Fight 



PAGE. 
at McDowell — "Bank's Races " — A 
Disgraceful Stampede of the Federal 
Forces — Marylander vs. Marylander — 
"Jackson's Commissary," Gen. Banks 
— Port Republic and Cross Keys — Death 
of Gen. Turner Ashby — His Gallantry, 
Courtliness and Humanity — Close of 
the Valley Campaign of 1862 — Jack- 
son's Investment of Harper's Ferry — 
Surrender of the Federal Forces — im- 
mense Stores Captured — The Sangui- 
nary Encounter at the Old Packhorse 
Ford— Closing Scenes of 1862 520-537 

CHAPTER XXVII.— From 1863 Onward 
TO THE Collapse. — Ewell Surprises 
Milroy — Large Amount of Supplies 
and Prisoners — Gen. Rhodes makes a 
Capture at Martinsburg — Gen. Lee en- 
ters Maryland by way of the Lower 
Valley — Imboden's Successful Affair 
at Charlestown — Capture of the Feder- 
al Garrison — Early Falls Back to the 
Valley — An Incident after the Battle 
of Winchester — Graphic Description by 
John Esten Cooke — The Heroine still 
in Winchester — The Valley Campaign 
of 1864 — Sheridan Ap])ears on the Scene 
—Battle of Winchester — Early Falls 
Back to Fisher's Hill— The Valley Dev- 
astated — Unprecedented Incendiarism 
and Pillage — The Confederate Com- 
mander Prepares a Surprise — Battle of 
Cedar Creek — Gen. Wright Robbed of 
Honors Justly Due Him — The True 
Story of Cedar Creek — New Facts — End 
of the Struggle, etc 537-556 

CHAPTER XXVIII. — Genealogy and 
Biography 556-804 

INDEX 80.5-813 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PORTRAITS. 



Allen, David II 541 

Baker, Henry S 113 

Baker, William B 131 

Burton, James H 185 

Gather, James 149 

Davenport, Braxton 289 

Glaize, George F 167 

Graichen, F. A 203 



Holliday, F. W. M 77 

Lucas, Daniel B 339 

McGuire, Hugh 25 

Page, John E 473 

Shepherd, Henry E 389 

Smith, Gen. John 255 

Williams, Philip 59 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Carter Hall Frontispiece 

Harper's Ferry 222 

Hollingsworth Iloiise 96 

Morgan's tJrave, 143 



Old Chapel Cemetery 508 

Old Norborne Church 440 

Residence of the late D. H. Allen 592 

Wm. H. Leeman's Commission 447 



Lower Shenandoah Valley, 



CHAPTER I. 

INTKODUCTORY. 

The Discoverers of America— Raleigh's Expedition— The Origin of 
THE Name Virginia — The London and Plymouth Companies — Lords 

HOPTON AND COLEPEPPER — SETTLEMENT OF JAMESTOWN — TOBACCO 

Introduced— A Sad Day— Some of Our Ancient Mothers — First 
General Assembly of the Commonavealtii— Instructions to Gov. 
Wyatt— First Acts of Assembly— Counties Organized— Benjamin 
Symms — Berkeley's Infamous Report — Frederick County Created — 
A Sparse Population— The Northern Neck of Virginia— History 
of the Culpepper-Fairfax Grant. 

WITHOUT entering into a detailed history of Virginia, a few 
prominent facts in relation to the early events leading up to 
the settlement of the Shenandoah Valley will not only be interesting 
as an example of the steady and certain march of progress, but 
necessary for the better understanding of the matters herein con- 
tained. And even after the recital of the events connected with the 
counties forming the Lower Shenandoah Valley shall have been com- 
menced, it may be necessary to frequently diverge from the main cur- 
rent, in order to gather and make complete their annals, for much of 
the Colonial and Revolutionary history, as well as a large portion of 
the Civil War operations and incidents, so closely connect the counties 
of the Great Valley that a suppression of anything not immediately 
associated with the section indicated would make this work fragr- 
mentary, incomplete and unsatisfactory. Therefore an outline sketch 
of the earliest important movements toward the settlement of Vir- 
ginia, inclusive of several ancient documents and portions of docu- 
ments pertaining thereto, and never before appearing in a history of 
this section or of the State, will be given. 

The first discoverers of the American continent, at least from its 

2 



10 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

eastern coast, were undoubtedly the Sea Kovers of the North, or 
Norse men, the early settlers of Iceland. The evidence is indisputa- 
ble, as Carlyle shows in his "Early Kings of Norway." In one of 
the Sagas (the word meaning sayings) of the early chroniclers of 
Iceland, an account is given of a voyage to a strange and large land 
by Eric the Red, who from the description given touched at Baffin's 
Bay, thence following down the coast touched land among other 
points at about Capes Hegry and Charles, and as low as the Caro- 
linas and the southern cape of Florida. The Icelanders, during their 
long winters, wrote a great deal, and, it seems, very accurately, for 
in other matters which they recorded they have been found, after 
investigation, to be entirely correct. 

That still earlier voyages to the Western continent along the 
Pacific coast were made and settlements effected centuries before Eric 
and his Sea- Wolves saw the wild-grapes along the coast of what is 
now Rhode Island, is beyond question, for the splendid " barbaric 
civilizations " of the Aztecs and the lucas attest the fact. But the 
first practical discoverer of the land we now so much love was Chris- 
topher Columbus, whom circumstances ruthlessly robbed of the honor 
of conferring upon it his name, it being awarded to another, Americus 
Vespucius, a Florentine, notwithstanding the untiring zeal and exer- 
tion, the trials and sufferings of the immortal Genoese. Yet Colum- 
bus had not seen the continent proper until 1498, about one year 
after John Cabot and his son Sebastian had landed upon what is now 
known as Newfoundland. This mariner, Cabot, an Italian, sailed 
under the patronage of King Henry VII., and having ranged the 
coast from Labrador to Florida, claimed the country in the name of 
the crown of England, in July, 1497. 

The entire eastern coast of the continent remained for many years, 
nominally only, in the possession of the English government, for not 
until 1584 did the crown send out any expedition to take formal 
possession of the same. In that year, however. Queen Elizabeth dis- 
patched her favorite. Sir Walter Raleigh, to the new domain, who 
arrived in Pamlico Sound, thence proceeded to Albemarle Sound, 
raised the English standard, thanked God for the conquest, returned 
to his royal mistress and gave such a glowing description of the 
country that the Virgin Queen bestowed upon the beautiful virgin 
land, in attestation of her own unmarried state, the now honored and 
loved name — Virginia. 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 13 

Historians state that another assembly was hekl in 1620, and still 
another in November and December, 1621. On the 24:th of July, 1621, 
Sir Francis Wyatt received a commission as Governor, and with it a 
set of "Instructions," a summary of which is as follows: 

" To keep up religion of the church of England; to be obedient to 
the King; do justice; not injure the natives; forget old quarrels. 

"To be industrious; suppress drunkenness, gaming and excess in 
cloaths; to permit none but the council and heads of hundreds to wear 
gold in their cloaths ; none to wear silk till they make it. 

"Not to offend foreign princes; punish piracies; to teach children; 
to coiivwrt the heathen. 

'To mako a catalogue of the people and their condition; of deaths, 
marriages, and christenings; to take care of estates; keep list of all 
cattle. 

"Not to plant above one hundred pounds of tobacco per head; to 
sow great quantities of corn ; to keep cows, swine, poultry, &c. ; to 
plant mulberry trees and make silk, and take care of the French men 
in that work; to plant an abundance of vines. 

" To put prentices to trades, and not let them forsake their trades 
for planting tobacco, or any such useless commodity. 

" To take care of the Dutch sent to build mills; to build water- 
mills and block-houses in every plantation. 

"That all contracts be performed and breaches thereof punished; 
tenants not to be enticed away. 

" To make salt, pitch, tar, soap, oil of walnuts, search for minerals, 
dyes, gums, &c., and send small quantities home. (England.) 

" To make small quantities of tobacco, and that very good, and to 
keep the store houses clean. 

" To take care of Capt. William Norton and certain Italians sent 
to set up a glass house." 

Then follows a number of instructions to Governor Wyatt's ofl&cers 
and others, and closing with the oath to be administered to the gover- 
nor himself. And thus began the first regular and systematic admin- 
istration of tbe law in Virginia, and although the customs of the times, 
and the necessities of the occasion, demanded harsh measures, even 
bordering on barbarism, yet in the main the most of the enactments of 
these primitive legislatures were ordinarily just and humane, of course 
with a due allowance of leniency and favoritism toward those in whose 
veins was thought to run the blue blood of nobility. From these 



14: HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

initial acts of over two hundred and fifty years ago have resulted a 
set of laws now within the statute books of Virginia that have no 
superiors and few equals in any country for intensity of justice and 
breadth of learning. 

Before proceeding to the organization of counties and the grant of 
the Northern Neck of Virginia, from which sprang, through successive 
development, the now populous and productive Lower Shenandoah 
Valley, it will be interesting to many to peruse a few of the first re- 
corded acts of the first session whose proceedings appear in regular 
order and numbered from 1 to 35. The following are some of the 
most interesting: 

1. That there shall be in every plantation where the people use 
to meete for the worship of God, a house or roome sequestred for that 
purpose, and not to be for any temporal use whatsoever, and a place 
empaled in, sequestered only to the burial of the dead. 

2. That whosoever shall absent himselfe from divine service any 
Sunday without an allowable excuse shall forfeite a pound of tobacco, 
and he that absenteth himselfe a month shall forfeit fifty pounds of 
tobacco. 

3. That there be an uniformity in our church as neere as may be 
to the canons in England; both in substance and circumstance, and 
that all persons yield readie obedience unto them under paine of cen- 
sure. 

4. That the 22d of March be yearly solemnized as a holiday, &c. 
[This act was in relation to the escape of the colony from massacre 
by the Indians on March 22, 1622.— Ed. J 

That no minister be absent from his church above two months in 
all the yeare upon penalty of forfeiting halfe his means, and whoso- 
ever shall absent above fowre months in the yeare shall forfeit his 
whole means and cure. 

7. That no man dispose of his tobacco before the minister be sat- 
isfied, [paid] upon pain of forfeiture double his part of the minister's 
means, and one man of every plantation to collect his means out of the 
first and best tobacco and corn. 

9. That the governor shall not withdraw the inhabitants from 
their private labors to any service of his own upon any colour what- 
soever, and in case the public service require ymployments of many 
hands before the holding a General Assembly to give order for the 
same, &c. 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 15 

14. For the encouragement of men to plant corne, the prise shall 
not be stinted, but it shall be free for every man to sell it as deere as 
he can. 

17. That all trade for corne with the salvages (Indians) as well 
publick as private after June next sl^all be prohibited. 

19. That the proclamations for swearing and drunkenness sett out 
by the governor and counsell are confirmed by this assembly. 

21. That the proclamation for the rates of commodities be still 
in force, and that there be some men in every plantation to censure the 
tobacco. 

22. That there be no waights nor measures used but such as 
shall be sealed by officers appointed for that purpose. 

23. That every dwelling house shall be pallizaded in for defence 
against the Indians. 

24. That no man go or send abroad without a sufficient partie 
well armed. 

25. That men go not to worke in the ground without their arms 
(and a centinel upon them). 

26. That the inhabitants go not aboard ships or upon any other 
occasions in such numbers as thereby to weaken and endanger the 
plantations. 

28. That there be dew watch kept by night. 

30. Til at such persons of quality as shall be founde delinquent 
in their duties, being not fit to undergoe corporal punishment, may, 
notwithstanding, be ymprisoned at the discretione of the commander, 
and for greater offences to be subject to a ffine inflicted by the month- 
lie court, so that it exceed not the value aforesaid. 

32. That at the beginning of July next the inhabitants of every 
corporation shall fall upon their adjoining salvages as we did the last 
yeare, those that shall be hurte upon service shall be cured at the pub- 
lique charge; in case any be lamed to be maintained by the country 
according to his person and quality. 

34. That no person within this colony upon the rumor of sup- 
posed change and alteration, presume to be disobedient to the present 
government, nor servants to their private officers, masters or overseers, 
at their uttermost peril. 

In 1634 the entire country comprised in what was then known as 
Virginia was divided into eight shires, or counties, and to be governed 
as the shires of England were; Lieutenants to be appointed more 



16 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

especially to take care of those under them in their contests with the 
Indians. Sheriffs, sergeants and bailiffs, also, were to be appointed. 
Thus began the more perfect subdivision of the country. In one of 
the acts passed by the Assembly in February, 1644-5, appears the 
name of Rappahannock, as applied to a district of country, and it is 
barely possible that it had been created a county by the governor 
and council without any note of it being made for a time by the bur- 
gesses, as was sometimes the case. In 1648, however. Act I of the 
Grand Assembly recites that " for the reducing of the inhabitants of 
Chickcoun and other parts of the Neck of land between Rappahannock 
river and Potomack river be repealed, and that the said tract of land 
be hereafter called and knowne by the name of the county of North- 
umherlancV The reference in this quotation to the famous " Northern 
Neck of Virginia " is the first upon record that the editor has been 
able to find. 

About this time, that is 1642, an act appears in Hening's Stat- 
utes at Large, p. 252, that should immortalize the subject thereof, 
and who deserves a monument far more than the arrogant, despotic 
f a wner-at-the-feet-of -royalty, Lord Berkeley,* whose infamous ideas on 
liberty and education are given below the following enactment, which 
was a confirmation of the testator's will by the General Assembly: 

ACT XVIII. 

Passed March 1642-3.— 18th Charles I. 

Be it also enacted and confirmed upon consideration had of the 
godly disposition and goodly intent of Benjamin Symms, deed., in 
founding by his last will and testament a Fi'ee school in Elizabeth 
county, for the encouragement of all others in the like pious perform- 
ances, that the said vs^ill and testament with all donations therein 
contained concerning the free school and the situation thereof in the 
said county, and the land appurteining to the same, shall be confirmed 
according to the true meaning and godly intent of the said testator 
without any alienation or conversion thereof to any place or county. 

This is undoubtedly the first private bequest to the cause of edu- 
cation in the entire southern half of the country, if not the entire 
continent, and the name of the glorious old devisor should be kept 
green in the memory of all who love their fellow man. Contrast this 
act of grand old Benjamin Symms with the annexed ideas on the same 
subject of Lord Berkeley, thirty years later. His lordship, who was 

*This was not Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, who was governor of Virginia a few 
years prior to the American Eevohition, and who was known as the " good Governor Berkeley." 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 17 

then Governor o£ Virginia, had addressed to him a series of questions 
from Charles II., through his commissioners, in regard to the state of 
the colony in Virginia. To the twenty-third conundrum propounded, 
which was in relation to "instructing the people, religion, ministry, 
&c." this peculiar man closed his reply as follows: 

/ " But I thank God, there are no free schools nor printiyig, and I 

hope we shall not have these hundred years ; for learning has brought 

1 disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and jpriniing has 

\ divulged them, and libels against the best government. God keep us 

Mrom both." 

Another important event happened about this time. In 1645 
coined money was introduced by act of the Grand Assembly, all cur- 
rency up to this time being " tobacco," which was the standard of 
value — so many pounds of tobacco bought so much of anything else. 
In 1652 Lancaster county was formed, Westmoreland in 1653, and 
Rappahannock in 1656. In 1659 the notorious act for the " suppres- 
sion of Quakers " was passed. Vessel masters were prohibited from 
bringing them to the colony, and when one of that faith was caught 
he was imprisoned and sent out of the country; if he returned he was 
treated still more severely, and again sent away, but if he returned 
the third time he was treated as a felon and executed with the prompt- 
itude that distinguished our forefathers in such matters. In 1692 
Rappahannock county was divided, and Richmond county formed from 
that portion north of the Rappahannock river, and that south of the 
river to be called Essex. An act for the " establishment of a posi 
office in the country " was passed in March, 1692-3, and in October 
of the same year an act for "ascertaining the place for erecting the 
College of William and Mary," the first college on the American con- 
tinent. It is supposable that had the Rt. Hon. Lord Berkeley been 
then living that he would have put his oiBficial foot flat down on that 
educational scheme, but despots drop beneath the scythe of Old Time, 
as well as other mortals, and his lordship had passed to his reward 
many years before. 

Having given in brief some of the most important events that led 
to the settlement of the state east of the Blue Ridge mountains, the 
progress made and the movements westward brings the writer to the 
period when the division of the territory led to the formation of the 
counties of the Great Valley. Accordingly, in 1720, the General 
Assembly passed an act for the erection of the counties of Spottsyl- 



18 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

vania and Brunswick, the preamble of which and that portion relating 
to Spottsylvania are here given: 

PREAMBLE, That the frontiers towards the high mountains are 
exposed to danger from the Indians, and the late settlements of the 
French to the westward of the said mountains, 

Enacted, Spottsylvania county bounds upon Snow creek up to 
the Mill, thence by a southwest line to the river North Anna, thence 
up the said river as far as convenient, and thence by a line to be run 
over the high mountains to the river on the northwest side thereof, so 
as to include the northern passage thro' the said mountains, thence 
down the said river till it comes against the head of Rappahan- 
nock, thence by a line to the head of Rappahannock, and down 
that river to the mouth of Snow creek; which tract of land from the 
first of May, 1721, shall become a county, by the name of Spotisyl- 
vania county. 

This immense county, named in honor of the then governor, Alex- 
ander Spottswood, included, in addition to the territory within the 
bounds stated in the act lying east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, all 
of the fertile region now known as the Shenandoah Valley from the 
Potomac to the southern limits of what is now Augusta county, and 
extending westward to the uttermost limits, Avhich meant as far as the 
English could carry their conquering flag, for the French had extend- 
ed their settlements along the Mississippi. In 1734 another division 
occurred. Spottsylvania was divided and its northern half erected 
into the county of Orange, as will be seen by the following act of the 
General Assembly, passed in August of the year stated: 

WHEREAS divers inconveniences attend the upper inhabitants of 
Spottsylvania county, by reason of their great distance from the court 
house and other places, usually appointed for public meetings, Be it 
therefore enacted, &c., that from and immediately after the first-day 
of January, now next ensuing, the said county of Spottsylvania be 
divided, by the dividing line, between the parish of St. George, and 
the parish of St. Mark; and that that part of the said county, which is 
now the parish of St. George, remain, and be called, and known by the 
name of Spottsylvania county; and all that territory of land, adjoining 
to, and above said line, bounden southerly by the line of Hanover 
county, northerly, by the grant of Lord Fairfax, and westerly, by the 
utmost limits of Virginia, be thenceforth erected into one distinct 
county, and be called and known by the name of the county of Orange. 

Four years later than the above date, 1784, the county of Frederick 
was created by an act passed in November, 1738, the district compris- 
ing what is now Shenandoah, a portion of Page, Warren, Fred- 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 19 

erick, Clarke, Berkeley, Jefferson and Moi'gan, and the counties ex- 
actly westward of this section. Previous to the erection of Orange 
county the portion of the Valley comprised in this work, the Lower 
Shenandoah Valley, had so few inhabitants other than the Indiaus 
that it was not taken into consideration. Just think of that for a 
moment! This wonderful valley, one of the richest spots on the face 
of the earth, with its vast mineral and agricultural wealth, its teeming 
busy thousands, only one hundred and fifty years ago not thought 
worthy to be even accounted a portion of the county. The act of 
1738 is as follows: 

WHEREAS great numbers of people have settled themselves of 
late, upon the rivers of Sherrando,* Cohongoruton,'|' and Opeckon, 
and the brandies thereof, on the northwest side of the Blue ridge of 
mountains, whereby the strength of this colony, and its security upon 
the frontiers, and his majesty's revenue of quit-rents, are like to be 
much increased and augmented: For giving encouragement to such as 
shall think fit to settle there, 

Be U enacted, &c., That all that territory and tract of land, at 
present deemed to be a part of the county Okf Orange, lyiug on the 
northwest side of the top of the said mountains, extending from thence 
northerly, westerly, and southerly, beyond the said mountains, to the 
utmost limits of Virginia, be separated from the rest of the said 
county, and erected into two distinct counties and parishes; to be 
divided by a line to be run from the head sjjring of Hedgman river 
to the head spring of the river Potowmack: And that all that part of 
the said territory, lying to the northeast of the said line, beyond the 
top of the said Blue ridge, shall be one distinct county, and parish; 
to be called by the name of the county of Frederick, and parish of 
Frederick; and that the rest of the said territory, lying on the other 
side of the said line, beyond the top of the said Blue ridge, shall be 
one other distinct county, and parish ; to be called by the name of the 
county of Augusta, and parish of Augusta. 

It was also enacted that the new counties should remain a part of 
the county of Orange till it should appear to the governor and council 
that there were enough inhabitants for appointing justices of the 
peace and other oflicers, and for erecting courts for the administration 
of justice. Five years elapsed from the passage of the act till the 
population was sufiicient to justify the appointment of the necessary 
officials for the conduct of public business, as the records show that 
the first court in Frederick was held in November, 174:8. The organi- 

*Slienancloali. +Potouiac. 



20 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

zation of this court, the wames of its officers and the incidents accom- 
panying that event will be deferred to another chapter. 

For the better understanding of the situation of matters (espe- 
cially in regard to land titles) in Frederick at tbe time of the organi- 
zation, an account of what is known as the " Fairfax Grant " will be 
in place at this juncture, for Frederick, it will be remembered, then, 
and until 1772, comprised the entire section known as the Lower 
Shenandoah Valley, which was a considerable portion of that immense 
grant, the famous Norfhern Neck of Virginia. 

For mauy years succeeding the settlement at Jamestown grants or 
charters were made to persons in England, generally favorites of the 
sovereigns, for tracts of land in the New World, and among those so 
granted was one that was afterward known as the tract of the Northern 
Neck of land in Virginia, the history of which is as follows: At 
or about the beginning of the reign of Charles the Second, whose 
father Charles the First was beheaded by order of Cromwell in 1649, 
a party of gentlemen applied for a grant to the tract named and their 
desires were acceded to,^nd to confirm the same the grant was re-is- 
sued and made more explicit in the twenty -first year of the same mon- 
arch, Charles II. The parties receiving this princely gift were 
"Ptalph, Lord Hopton; Henry, Earl of St. Albans, by the then name 
of Henry, Lord Jermyn ; John, Lord Culpepper ; John, Lord Berkeley, 
of Stratton, by the name of Sir John Berkeley; Sir William Morton, 
one of the Justices of the Court of King's Bench, by the then name 
of Sir William Morton; Sir Dudley Wyatt; and Thomas Culpepper." 
They were given, as the record states, "their heirs and assigns for- 
ever, all that entire tract, territory, or parcel of land situate, lying, 
and being in America, and bounded within the head of the rivers 
Rappahannock and Quiriough or Patomack rivers, the courses of said 
rivers as they are commonly called and known by the inhabitants, and 
descriptions of those parts, and Chesapeak bay, together with the 
rivers themselves, and all the islands within the banks of those rivers, 
and all woods, underwoods, timber, trees, streams, creeks, mines, &c., 
&c." The above named grantees in tlie course of time having either 
died or sold their interests, the property passed into the possession of 
Henry, Earl of St. Albans; John, Lord Berkeley; Sir William Mor- 
ton, and John Tretheway, and these gentlemen, in turn, conveyed 
their rights in the grant to Thomas, Lord Culpepper, eldest son and 
heir of John, Lord Culpepper. Now this " Thomas, Lord Cul- 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 21 

pepper," had an only daughter who married the young " Thomas, Lord 
Fairfax, Baron of Cameron, in that part of Great Britain called Scot- 
land," and the old gentleman (Culpepper) having died, left the young 
Lord Fairfax in possession of the richest tract of land on this conti- 
nent. Thus it was that came about the term " Fairfax Grant," but it 
was not a Fairfax grant, simply an inheritance by marriage, yet one 
that held just the same, and the son of that Lord Fairfax not only got 
all out of it he could, but tried to get more, as will be shown farther 
along. 

It is thought, and with good reason, that the original grant only 
contemplated the section of country in the Neck east of the Blue 
Kidge mountains, as the slender geographical knowledge of this con- 
tinent and its vastness led all to suppose that the Rivers Rappahan- 
nock and Potomac had their head-waters in the Blue Ridge ; but a 
few thousand square miles of land did not make any difference to a 
king when he was giving away farms, that cost him nothing, to his 
friends, and it is altogether probable that if Lord Hopton et al had 
requested that the grant should extend from the Chesapeake to sun- 
down the generous monarch would have so "nominated it in the bond." 
But Lord Fairfax, who had an eye to business, discovering that the 
Potomac headed in the Alleghany mountains, went to England and 
instituted suit for extending his grant to the head spring of the Po- 
tomac, and his suit being successful, with certain conditions, it gave 
him what are now Page, Shenandoah, Warren, Clarke, Frederick, 
Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan, Hardy and Hampshire counties, in ad- 
dition to the section east of the Ridge now known as Lancaster, North- 
umberland, Richmond, Westmoreland, Stafford, King George, Prince 
William, Fairfax, Alexandria, Loudoun, Fauquier, Culpeper and 
Madison. The " certain conditions" mentioned were that the exten- 
sion of the grant should not interfere with any grants made by the 
General Assembly of Yirginia, and confirmed by the Crown, for that 
body had already granted to various parties large tracts of land in the 
Valley, which confirms the idea that it was generally the impression 
that the grant of Charles II. only included the section as above stated 
east of the Ridge. Notwithstanding this stipulation of the Coui't of 
King's Bench, Fairfax endeavored to dispossess those who held land 
through the colonial government, and especially did he fight in the 
courts the claim of one of the first settlers of this section. 



22 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 



CHAPTER IL 

PHYSICAL FEATUEES. 

Geology— Its Application to Agrioultuke— Theory on the Origin of 
Matter— Nature's Great Forces— Pre-historic Life — Outlines of 
Geological Study—" A Question of Rocks " — Topography and 
Boundaries— The Quiriough — Fertility of the Valley — Mineral 
Resources — Timber — The Garden of Virginia — Splendor of the 
Scenery— What the Valley-- Originally was— And What It Now is. 

ALTHOUGH the matter has been until a very recent date, and is 
still to a large degree, ignored, yet the fact is gaining greater 
weight with every day, all over the civilized world, that the geology 
of a country is the most important feature to the inhabitants of that 
country, for within the crust of the earth lie all- the elements of 
wealth that man may enjoy in this world. 

The soil, as the result of rock-disintegration, is the gi'eat depos- 
itory of all the wealth within the possible grasp of man; not only 
mineral, but vegetable and animal, as well. Upon the geological 
structure of a country depend the pursuits of its inhabitants. Agri- 
culture is the outgrowth of a fertile soil, mining results from mineral 
resources, and as a consequence commerce and all the industries which 
produce it, springs from those two sources. The permanent effect 
of the soil upon the populations that subsist through the products of 
that soil is as strong and inevitable as upon the vegetation that also 
springs from it. It is a maxim in geology that the soil and its under- 
lying rocks forecast to the trained eye the character of the inhabitants, 
their number, and the quality of the civilization of those who will in 
the coming time occupy it. Indeed, so close are the relations between 
man and geology that the law is plain and fixed that a new country 
may have its outlines of history written, when first looked upon, 
and it is not, as many suppose, one of those deep, abstruse subjects, 
that must be relegated to a few investigators and thinkers, whilst to the 
practical masses it shall be as a sealed book. The youth of the country 
may learn the important outlines of geology, and apply the inevitable 
laws of that science thereby obtained to their own localities, wdth no 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 23 

more trouble than to master the multiplication table ; nor need they be 
possessed of any extraordinary attainments other than those required 
to understand a few of the technicalities of the study, which they will 
find as entertaining as profitable. To educate the son of the average 
farmer usually means to send him off to college and give him what 
is termed a classical education, and he returns to his home, perhaps 
as a graduate, yet as incapable, except in rare instances, of telling the 
geological story of his father's farm as any of the "hands" engaged 
thereon. Of how much more practical value would it have been had 
this youth dropped his "political economy" and a few theoretical 
studies, and taken up in earnest the analyzatiou of soils, and learned 
to hammer out the geological history of the rocks upon the farm where 
he was born ! A few lessons during his collegiate course would have 
enabled this young gentleman to comprehend how the soil was formed, 
from what it originated, what it contained, and what it lacked to bring 
it up to full productiveness. He would realize that every step in 
farming is a purely scientific operation and that the better the matter 
is understood, the better will be the class of farming. 

The science of geology makes a stride backward in the physical 
history of the planet we inhabit to a point considered by man as the 
" beginning," yet which is, possibly, as far from the beginning as is the 
incomprehensible End to the Now, for to the Creator a million years is 
as a day. Geology digs down into the crust of the earth and traces 
through successive stages of development the history of this rolling 
ball to its judimental condition in a state of fusion. The theory has 
come to be almost generally accepted that the sun and its planetary 
system were originally a common mass, "without form and void," the 
planets became detached at the creation whilst in a gaseous state, and 
being separated from the grand central mass of heat, cooled and finally 
crystalized upon their surfaces. Thus the earth began to write its 
own history upon the imperishable rocks, where the geologist may go 
and read the strange, eventful story. The earth as a wheeling ball of 
fire, set in motion by the Omnipotent, having eventually cooled at the 
surface, and formed a crust in the slow process of time, prepared the 
way for animal and vegetable life. In its center intense heat and fierce 
flames still rage with undiminished vigor. Volcanoes are outlets for 
these deep-seated fires, where are generated those inconceivable forces, 
illustrated by a column of molten rock (lava) thrown to a height of 
over 10,000 feet above the crater whence it issued, and which has 



24 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

caused upheavals within a few years past that have destroyed hundreds 
of thousands of lives, as in the case of Java; laid Avaste one of the 
loveliest spots on earth, Iscliia, in the bay of Naples ; and sent conster- 
nation and ruin to hundreds in South Carolina. The amount of lava 
ejected at a single eruption from one of the volcanoes of Iceland would 
cover a space of ground ten miles square, and as high as the tallest 
peak of the Rocky Mountains. Our world is still in process of con- 
gealing, and has been through untold ages, yet the crust is estimated 
to be only about thirty or forty miles in thickness. The globe being 
25,000 miles in circumference, and its diameter, as per consequence, 
about 8,333 miles, deduct forty miles from the last figures, and then 
try to realize in what close proximity man is to the seething, boiling 
mass of metal and stone of over 8,000 miles in diameter. The condi- 
tions are about the same as the shell of an egg and its contents. Is 
it any wonder, then, that this molten mass occasionally breaks through 
the crust? Is it not more wonderful that man is here at all? Yet he 
is here, and has, seemingly, almost penetrated the great secret of " orig- 
inal origin." In the silent depths of the rocks he has delved and 
dragged to the light the skeletons of living organisms of ages so re- 
mote that to think of them bewilders the mind. Those fossil remains 
are fragments of history, which enable the geologist to extend his 
researches into that immeasurable past and not only determine their 
former modes of life, but to study the contemporaneous history of their 
rocky sepulchres, and group them into systems. Such was the pro- 
fusion of life that the great limestone formations of the globe consist 
almost entirely of organic remains, and the soil of a considerable por- 
tion of the earth originated from them by disintegration and erosion. 
The same process is now going on. First, as nourishment it enters 
into the structure of plants, forming vegetable tissue; passing thence 
as food into the animal, it becomes endowed with life, and when death 
occurs it returns to Mother Earth, whence it sprung, and adds fertility 
to the soil. 

There are two kinds of rocks, forming two systems, and are known 
respectively as stratified and unstratified, the former having been 
produced by sedimentary action, that is, organic or animal life, and 
other matter, being deposited at the beds of oceans or streams; and 
the latter formed by the action of intense heat. These two systems 
are called, also, for convenience igneous and sedimentary. They are 
further distinguished as crystalline and uncrystalline, and the reader 



V>fV 







JTrz^flf^ J/Lfu,^'. o/>^//y-u^ 




/^^ 




HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 27 

can better understand these distinctions when it is stated that the 
action of fire produced the crystalline, whilst water was principally the 
agent in forming the uncrystalline. A magnifying glass of even small 
power will show the difference between the two classes. Take, for 
instance, a bit of gneiss or granite and you will see well defined crys- 
tals; then examine a piece of ordinary, or better stilj, fossiliferous 
limestone, and you will see the skeletons, or shells, of innumerable 
marine organisms, that lived and moved at the beds of primeval 
oceans. These two systems are composed of four great divisions, viz: 
Eozoic, Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. The lowest division, the 
Eozoic, which signifies dawii of life, was formerly known as Azoic, 
meaning without life, and so called from the fact that no traces of life 
could be found in it ; it was supposed to be, and no doubt is, the base 
of all the accumulations above it, and the roof or shell inclosing the 
internal fires, being the first crust formed after the gaseous, or semi- 
liquid globe began to cool; it is composed of primitive gneiss and 
granite. Comparatively recent researches, however, have revealed the 
fact that even in this oldest of all uncovered things traces of life are 
to be found, and consequently the term Azoic had to be changed to 
Eozoic. This division consists of four subdivisions: First, Lauren- 
tian, from the fact that its principal outcroppings are along the St. 
Lawrence river, and consists mostly of granitoid gneiss. Second, 
Huronian, or Green Mountain, and outcrops as imperfect gneisses along 
the shores of our great upper lakes. Third, Montalban, or White 
Mountain, with outcroppings at the mountains after which it is named, 
and consists of gneisses, but lithologically dissimilar from the Lau- 
rentian gneisses. Fourth, Norian, or Labradorian, so called from its 
principal outcroppings being of Labrador feldspar. The second divis- 
ion, the Palaeozoic, is subdivided into five groups, known as the Cam- 
brian (lower, middle and upper) ; Silurian; Devonian; Carboniferous, 
and Permian. In the Permian occurs the magnesian limestone of 
the western States, and in the Carboniferous the coal measures, the 
millstone-grits and the beautiful fossiliferous limestones, as well as the 
limestones of this valley. The third division, the Mesozoic, is com- 
posed of three groups: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, consisting 
of what are known as secondary rocks, sandstones, shales, and some- 
times overlaid by fossiliferous limestones. The fourth great division 
is the Cenozoic, or recent formations, and consists of glacial drift, peat 
bogs, alluvial deposits, and ordinary soil, varying in character as the 
underlying rocks vary. 



28 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

From the rocks of a given section, as has been said, spring animal 
as well as vegetable excellence, and a clever illustration of that fact 
was enunciated by the late eminent Prof. Agassiz, who, in reply to 
the question of a horse-breeder desirous of obtaining the professor's 
opinion as to the best mode, scientifically, of producing high-class 
stock, said, "It is entirely a question of rocks." A substantial con- 
firmation of this theory lies in the fact that the Blue Grass region of 
Kentucky produces a breed of horses that outstrip the world for speed 
and endurance. The physical structure of the Kentucky thorough- 
bred is much finer than the horse of other sections, and an examina- 
tion of the bone of the former shows it to be almost as ivory in com- 
pactness as compared to the bone of the Conestoga and other low-bred 
horses. The soil of the Blue Grass region is a peculiar limestone, 
and all of its products are of the best. The reason is apparent. 

The foregoing remarks lead to the fact that limestone is the soil, 
par excellence, that produces the best results in almost everything — 
health, fertility, size, strength, and even personal courage; that is, a 
courage that comes from conviction, and not from brute instinct, which 
is inherent in the savage, prompted by his mode of life for self- 
preservation. The Shenandoah Valley, and particularly the counties 
forming the section comprised in this work, has been overlooked by 
the State authorities in the matter of geology, and there is almost 
nothing of any consequence in print in regard to its resources in this 
respect, save what has been embodied in the pamphlets and descriptive 
circulars of the land companies of the various counties, but that there 
is a wide field for the speculative as well as the operative geologist its 
wondrous mountain formations and rich valleys attest. The hills of 
this section contain much that is not only interesting to the investi- 
gator, but will some day, when sufficient capital and the proper appli- 
ances are brought to bear, bring immense revenues to the inhabitants 
of this region. 

The Lower Shenandoah Valley, for the purposes contemplated in 
this work, comprises the counties of Frederick and Clarke, Va., and 
Berkeley and Jefferson, W. Va., and extends, roughly stated, from Cedar 
Creek on the south to the Potomac on the north, aud from the Blue 
Ridge mountains on the east to the North mountain on the west. 
The mean length of the section is about forty-three miles, and the 
mean width about twenty-nine miles. More definitely stated, Fred- 
erick is twenty-eight miles long and eighteen wide ; Clarke, seventeen 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 29 

miles long and fifteen wide; Berkeley, twenty-three miles long and 
thirteen wide; Jefferson, twenty-two miles loug and twelve wide. It 
is abundantly watered, being bounded and enclosed on three of its 
sides by three of the most beautiful streams of water on the continent. 
Along the northern border flows the historic Potomac, a stream which 
for romantic beauty, where nature has been exceedingly lavish in ac- 
cording her charms of wood and rock, has no superior anywhere. The 
Potomac has borne several names. From the Chesapeake bay to its 
junction with the Shenandoah River at Harper's Ferry, it was called 
when the white man first settled at Jamestown (or at least the white 
man so named it), the Paw-taw-mak, in consequence of the tribe of 
Indians of that name living along that stream. That portion of it 
west of the junction at Harper's Ferry was called by the Indians 
Cohongoruton or Cohongoluta. It was known by still another name, 
for in the grant of the Northern Neck by Charles the Second, as 
recited in the confirmatory act of the General Assembly of Virginia in 
1736, it is called Quiriough, but just where Charles, or his petitioners, 
obtained that queer title is not now known. This last name appears 
no where else than in the Fairfax grant, so far as the writer has been 
able to ascertain. Along the eastern border of these counties flows 
the picturesque and brawling Shenandoah, as it comes tumbling and 
foaming over rocks and ledges and fallen trees. This stream was 
originally called and written Gerando, then Sherando, then Shanadore, 
until by that strange process of change in nomenclature, it came to be 
known as Shenandoah, but just how and when "the deponent sayeth 
naught." On the southern border flows the also historic stream, Cedar 
creek, which Buchanan Read has almost immortalized in his poem 
commemorating the famous ride of Sheridan when he managed to 
reach his command, which had been reformed after having been 
hurled back by Early, in time to participate in the final victory. This 
stream, heading in the Little North mountain, makes its way with 
many a twist and turn to the Shenandoah river, having watered with 
its tributaries all the upper portion of Frederick county. The Ope- 
quon creek, which rises a few miles to the southeast of Winchester, 
flows eastward a short distance, and, taking a sudden turn northward, 
pursues its course through the "slate formation," until it enters the 
Potomac several miles east of Martinsburg. This stream, the Ope- 
quon, it is claimed by several historians, has the honor of having had 
upon its banks the first settler who came to the valley of Virginia, but 



30 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

which is a mistake, as the present writer will endeavor to show farther 
along. The northwestern portion of Berkeley and a portion of Fred- 
erick are also watered by Tuscarora, Mill and Back creeks. There 
are a number of smaller creeks, including the Bullskin in Clarke, 
Abraham's creek at Winchester, and other tributaries of the main 
water courses. The country abounds in springs, some of the largest 
on the continent, and there are a number of mineral springs of the 
highest value, whose curative waters annually draw hundreds of 
persons from all sections of the country. Several of these resorts 
are most elegantly and conveniently arranged for the accommodation 
of the public, and present attractions for health and pleasure that have 
given them a world-wide reputation. The medicinal springs are of all 
grades and colors of sulphur, white, black, blue, yellow and gray; there 
are also chalybeate and other waters. The general geological formation 
being limestone, there are numerous caves throughout the entire sec- 
tion, some of them of most wondrous beauty and size. 

Geologically considered, this valley is placed in the Carboniferous, 
or fourth group of the PalBeozoic, or second subdivision of the two 
great systems into which the crust of the earth is divided. It also 
partakes in part of the Cambrian and Silurian epochs. This geolog- 
ical period, or strata, gives the coal measures and the gray, or blue 
limestone, which affords from its disintegration the soil whereon man 
in all portions of the world has been enabled to produce the finest 
crops of all the most useful and most nourishing of the gifts of Mother 
Earth — wheat, corn, oats, and the hardy fruits and vegetables. Al- 
though from the Massanutton mountain to the Potomac the soil is as 
a rule limestone, yet there are ledges of shoal rock, and a singular 
outcropping of slate. This slate upheaval varies in width from two to 
six miles, and extends from the northern end of the Fort mountain 
to the Potomac. The Opequon, with the exception of a few miles 
eastward from where it rises in the Little North mountain, follows 
this slate country, and in all its sinuosities never leaves it till it emp- 
ties into the Potomac. The geological explanation of this singular 
freak of nature (one, by the way, that is very rare) is, that at some 
period in the remote past the Massanutton, or Fort mountain, contin- 
ued northward from where it appears to-day so abruptly broken off 
above Strasburg; and that some grand upheaval of the earth swept 
away this lower portion of the elevation, leaving the slate base as we 
now see it. The theory is not only plausible, but forces itself upon 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 31 

the miud, when the structure of the Fort mountain is examined. The 
width of the slate formation and the general width of the range of 
hills named are the same, whilst at the base of the peak, which is so 
prominent an object going southward from Winchester, the slate strata 
correspond exactly with those all the way along for forty-five miles. 
In fact, this swept-away range doubtless extended far to the north- 
ward, for across in Maryland they have what they call the " slate 
hills," a section that is not as good for farming as their other lands; 
and even up through Pennsylvania the slate ledges continue. Those 
slate lands in the Lower Shenandoah Yalley have been highly culti- 
vated and upon them are some excellent farms. All the rest is pure 
gray limestone soil, extremely fertile, and especially in Jefferson and 
Clarke counties, the soil has been pronounced, and the results have 
shown for the past hundred years, that this section has no equal in 
the same space for richness and productiveness. 

That there is great mineral wealth in the mountains throughout 
this entire section is not a matter of mere speculation, for investiga- 
tion and the practical opening of a number of mines of different kinds 
have given a glimpse of the possibilities that are in store for those 
who will reach forth and reap the harvest. It has been said by scien- 
tific experts that there is enough iron ore of the most superior quality 
in the mountains of this section from the Potomac to the Fort mount- 
ain to supply the world for all time to come, and that it is susceptible 
of easier working, as it lies nearer the surface, than the deposits of 
Pennsylvania or Alabama. Only to a very limited extent have the 
mines already opened been worked, yet considerable quantities are 
shipped to Pennsylvania furnaces. The ores are various, as not only 
have large deposits of brown oxides, carbonates and black bauds been 
found, but brown and red hematites, which give the best results, being 
much richer. Coal, to a certain extent, has been mined, but appliances 
have been lacking to make the efforts in that direction entirely suc- 
cessful. In the western portion of Berkeley county, however, fine 
veins of true anthracite have been known and worked to a limited ex- 
tent for many years. This new anthracite field is destined in the not 
distant future to yield handsome returns. Geologists and experienced 
mining operators have pronounced this Berkeley anthracite vein to be 
a continuation of the anthracite deposits of Pennsylvania. Copper 
and lead have also been found and worked to a limited extent, and 
indications of silver have been reported. Rich mines of manganese 



32 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

have been worked for many years, and umbers and ochres are worked 
with profit. The finest building stone is to be found everywhere, and 
the most of the fossiliferous limestone is susceptible of the highest 
polish, whilst the lime produced is of the best quality, containing 
little or no magnesia. Clays of all varieties are in abundance, and 
there are found in several localities what is thought to be a genuine 
"fuller's earth." All varieties of timber are here found in inexhaust- 
ible quantities: oak, hickory, ash, walnut, maple, poplar, beech, birch, 
white pine, cherry, spruce, hemlock, linden, etc. — the mountains from 
base to summit being covered with them. 

The Shenandoah Valley has been very. aptly termed the " Garden 
of Virginia," for the happy mean of its climate makes it a most desir- 
able place for the residence of man. The warmth of its summers is 
modified by the cool mountain breezes, whilst the chilling breath of 
winter is tempered by the sheltering arms of these same mountains, 
and their proximity always assures, during the most heated terms, 
abundant refreshing rains. It has been compared favorably with the 
climate of California, but it has the salubrity and evenness of the 
Pacific coast region, without its drawbacks of "dust and dampness" — 
all rain or none at all. The rains of this section fall in season, and 
the snows of winter are gradually melted and flow down into the val- 
leys to bring fertility to the soil and freshness to the landscape. To 
realize what this valley is as far as the mind can comprehend through 
sight, one should take a position on an elevated spur of the Blue 
Eidge and facing westward drink in the beauties of this modern Ar- 
•cadia. Whilst breathing the pure fresh air of the mountains cast 
your eyes upon the impressive scene that lies before you. Below 
gleam the pellucid waters of the many streams, skirted by tall trees 
with drooping foliage ; the chamoedaphnes in full bloom, and burden- 
ing the air with their fragrance; the mighty forests and smiling fields 
that lie in almost endless expanse, distance lending to the landscape 
the effect of the most carefully kept garden. Far away to the right 
and left, glinting and gleaming in the sunlight, winds and brawls 
the beautiful Shenandoah; here and there hid by the foliage over- 
reaching its bright waters; anon appearing as some huge silvery ser- 
pent ; again concealed by a sweep of the mountains ; and still beyond 
it seems diminished to a shining thread. In front of you across the 
valley are stupendous mountain ranges, all clothed in luxuriant verd- 
ure, at places curving far into the plain, and at those places and at 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 33 

the summits, bathed in a sea of golden light; at others, receding, 
thrown into dark, sombre, forbidding shades. Beyond are mountains 
piled on mountains like an uptossed ocean of ridges, until they melt 
away in clouds and distance, imagination fancying others still farther 
on. High in the blue ether float clouds of snowy whiteness, and far 
above them, in majestic flight, sails the bird of the mountain, with an 
air as wild, as free, as the spirit of liberty. Everything seems to be 
rejoicing. Innumerable songsters are warbling sweetest music, and 
wild flowers, with scarce the morning dew from off their lips, are 
opening their bright petals to the wooing sun; whilst even the tiny 
insects, flitting through the air, join in the universal sense of over- 
powering delight! These grandest scenes of nature are within a few 
hours' ride by rail of our busiest cities, yet there are thousands to 
whom these glories are as unknown as the wilds of Africa. No won- 
der, then, that when the savage had by decreasing numbers made it 
comparatively safe for the white man to take up his abode here, that 
numerous adventurous spirits cut their way through the wilderness 
and forded raging streams to plant their cabins upon this virgin soil. 
But it was not then what it is now, in many respects. There were no 
comfortable habitations ; no stores from which to get supplies ; no 
physician in case of sickness; no schools; no churches; no roads that 
could be called such, ouly narrow Indian trails; none, or very little, 
of those comforts of life that now make our civilization the best the 
world has ever witnessed. The entire face of the country was covered 
with tall grass, so tall that one on horseback could tie it across the 
saddle. This prairie condition not only existed in the valleys, but ex- 
tended to the tops of the mountains, aud along the hillsides grew in 
abundance pea vines, which afforded the best of food for cattle and 
even horses. There was no timber, or at least very little, with the 
exception of narrow fringes along the water courses. The deer, the 
elk, and even the buffalo roamed and fed on the rich grasses, and the 
streams were alive with fish and aquatic animals. 



34 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



CHAPTER III. 

INDIANS AND PKEHISTORIC. 

The Ancient Aborigines— Theories of Their Origin— Their Vast Antiq- 
uity— Were They Autochthons? — The Conquering Mound Build- 
ers—Their Stupendous Works — Their Numbers and Their Retreat 
Westward— The Montezumas and the Incas— The Zunis— The Indian 
as a Savage — The Borderers— The Shawanees, and Cornstalk— In. 
DiAN Conflicts— Indian Settlements— Shawnee Spring and Cabins- 
Character OF THE Indian— His Manners, Customs, Habits, Dress 
Amusements and Religion. 

AS heretofore stated, when the first white settlers entered the val- 
ley of the Shenandoah the Indian reigned in absolute suprem- 
acy, and had doubtless for centuries lived and hunted and fought and 
died in this splendid country. How long he had inhabited this region 
undisturbed is now a matter lost to conjecture, even, but that he had 
been disturbed is beyond peradventure, and by a race of people far 
higher than himself in the scale of primitive humanity, and whose 
origin is as far beyond the scrutiny of the present dwellers on the 
earth as is that misty Past whereof we know naught save that it 
was. That this prehistoric race — these antagonists of the ancient abo- 
rigines — the so-called Mound Builders, were a superior people to the 
Indian, the numerous works they left, many of which are extant to- 
day, amply attest. 

There are theories and theories in regard to the origin of the Red 
Indians. Some place them far back in the conjectural history of the 
world; others affirm that they are the lineal descendants of two of the 
" lost tribes " of Israel; still others argue that in consequence of cer- 
tain apparently similar characteristics they possess in common with 
the ancient Scythians, that they had the same origin. All these theor- 
ists, as a general rule, agree that at some remote time the ancestors 
of the Indians made their way from Asia by way of what we now call 
Alaska. They even place the date as far back as the period when 
America and Asia were not divided by straits. But whatever the time 
at which they came, or from what point, one thing is certain, that their 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 35 

migration was at so remote a period as to have caused them to bear 
characteristics of physique in many respects entirely different from 
any other race of men known to the comparative anatomist, whilst 
their language contains peculiarities of construction, form and inflec- 
tion that render it at once strong and unique, having no affinity for 
any other language spoken by man, so far as the researches of com- 
parative philologists have ascertained — there not being in any of the 
Indian dialects a single word traceable to any other speech ever uttered. 
These facts are not only singular but startling, for all other languages 
can be traced back to a common origin of two or three great groups — 
all the languages and dialects, for instance, of the Caucasian, or white 
race, being discoverable in the Sanscrit, that most perfect of written 
languages, as well as the most ancient, of what we term the Aryan 
stock, those prehistoric dwellers at the foot of the Hindoo Kosh — the 
so-called " cradle of the race." 

Whence, then, came our Red Man? He may either have lauded 
upon this western continent at so early a date after the Creator had 
made the world habitable for man, that his ancestors and their lan- 
guage and all knowledge of them had been swept into oblivion, or he 
may have been what the ancient Greeks claimed for themselves, an 
autochthon, "a springer from the soil." That two entirely distinct 
races of people occupied the North American continent is probable, 
for when one nation can be shown to have been engaged in warfare it 
implies that they had somebody to fight them. From the Gulf of 
Mexico to the great lakes, and stretching from the Rocky mountains 
eastward to within one hundred and fifty miles of the Atlantic coast 
may be found hundreds of artificial fortifications, and other earth- 
works, all of the same character, and evidently reared by the same 
people. Along the water courses, especially in the western States, 
and particularly in the State of Ohio, but extending through all the 
middle States, may be found numerous mounds of defense and offense, 
mounds of observation, memorial mounds, sacrificial mounds, sepul- 
chral mounds, and elevations the purposes of which cannot now be 
well conjectured, two or three of the latter being the alligator, the 
serpent, and the eagle mounds in Ohio, the exact shape of these ani- 
mals being reared from four to six feet above the level of the plains 
upon which they were erected, and in length from four to eiglit hun- 
dred feet. The people who constructed these immense works were 
not only numerous but must have been considerably farther advanced 



36 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

in civilization than their antagonists. That they had a religion their 
altars and sacrificial mounds give evidence, and that they were some- 
what skilled in the erection of fortifications, the localities and sur- 
roundings of their works attest. Situated mostly on the bluffs of 
streams they combine picturesque scenery, susceptibility of defense, 
and convenience to transportation, water and productive lands. These 
are not requisites in the nomadic life of the Indian and unmistakably 
constitute the Mound Builders as a partially civilized and agricultural 
people. All these earth-works were originally thought to have been 
simply graves of the Indians, but of late years and after proper inves- 
tigation they have been shown to be the work of another race of people. 
The earliest account that the Avriter has been able to glean in this 
matter is to be found in a letter published in the Virginia Journal 
and Alexandria Advertiser of March 2, 178(3, wherein the correspond- 
ent says: 

" Nov. 1st we left Wheeling and landed about 13 miles below, at a 
place called Grave Creek, from a heap of earth raised in ancient time, 
about half a mile from the river, called by some an Indian Grave: 
This I viewed — it stands on an extensive plain of excellent bottom land 
covered with wood; is raised in pyramidal form, the base about 120 or 
130 feet, and the height about 60 or 70 feet. The angle of ascent is 
about 45 degrees, the top about 50 or 60 feet diameter and sunk in a reg- 
ular circle like a bason, about 4 or 5 feet, leaving a perfect marginal 
rim around the circle; this pyramid is covered with trees, some white 
oak I believe 9 feet in circumference; the trees on the plain do not 
appear as ancient as those on the pile of earth. — 'The tradition is that 
this was an Indian burial ground ; I am more inclined to believe it a 
tower of defense, or a place devoted to acts of worship." 

Many of these prehistoric mounds have been known to the settlers 
in this valley ever since its occupation, and some of them have been 
opened, revealing much that is not only curious but puzzling : stone 
axes, flint arrow-heads, spear-heads, pottery of various kinds, the bones 
of fish, birds and other animals, and numerous skeletons, some of very 
large size. Located near a great many of the larger mounds — mounds 
of fortification — are to be seen " pi tholes," depressions in the ground, 
which were evidently the houses of those who occupied the forts. 
Many of these pits, which are now very shallow, have been examined 
and at the original bottom of them have been invariably found ashes 
and bones of animals, such as the turkey, squirrel, raccoon, opossum. 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 37 

deer, bear and fish, showing that these depressions served as the liv- 
ing places of the inhabitants, where they slept and ate. Roofs of 
wood or the branches of trees may have been used to shelter them 
from rain and sun, as a people who had the patience and the ingenuity 
to erect the wonderful and stupendous mounds we now find, would 
have undoubtedly had an eye to their own personal convenience and 
comfort. As to the religion of these ancient dwellers, it has been ar- 
gued that they were sun-worshipers, from the fact that the front , so to 
speak, of nearly all their works looks to the eastward, but this fact may 
be accounted for upon another theory, that they came from the west- 
ward and consequently made that portion of their works upon the 
east, toward their antagonists, who were slowly receding eastward, 
the strongest. 

The Indians adapted many of the burial mounds to their own uses 
after they again became possessors of the land from which these 
" strange people from the far sea" (meaning the Pacific) had driven 
them, and it is, indeed, thought by very eminent archseologists that a 
third race, distinctive from the Red man and the Mound Builder, oc- 
cupied this soil for a time, for between the remains of the Mound 
Builders at the bottoms of the elevations and the Indian graves nearer 
the surface, are to be found a third class of interments, called by the 
scientists inirusive graves, which bear characteristics differing from 
the other two, but which may be accounted for from difference in 
class or rank, as all primitive races, and modern peoples, too, for that 
matter, have endeavored to give their high and mighty dead a sepul- 
chre varying from that of the common herd when placing them in the 
bosom of Old Mother Earth, who, however, receives all her children, 
king and thrall, with the same fond embrace. 

Whether more than the two great nations now known as the North 
American Indian and the Mound Builder dwelt upon this continent, 
is but a matter of speculation, for no evidences of a third occupation 
of the country are discernible, save in the matter of graves, which is at 
best small proof. The Indians at first dwelling, possibly, in the 
warmer sections of the west and southwest, along that portion of the 
coast comprising at present California, Mexico and Central America, 
were encroached upon by a race of hardy adventurers who had landed 
upon or made their way to the northwestern portions of the continent, 
and these interlopers, in the course of time increasing very rapidly in 
consequence of their partial advancement in civilization, gradually be- 



38 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

came as numerous as the original occupants, and forthwith set about 
their conquest, for it seems that the next thing that primitive man is 
impelled to do after he has satisfied the cravings of his stomach, is 
to fight something or somebody. Now these ancient warriors — these 
conquering Mound Builders, whom we so call because we know no 
better name for them — kept pressing his inferior foe backward and 
still backward, everywhere erecting his fortifications and establishing 
his towns and altars, till the Indian was driven eastward to the Atlan- 
tic coast. This conquest may have been accomplished only after cen- 
turies of fighting, but that the inferior race was driven to the east is 
almost beyond doubt, for the following reasons: Running north and 
south across the State of New York and a portion of Pennsylvania, a 
series of mounds averaging about ten miles apart is still to be seen, 
although in some instances they are almost obliterated by the hand of 
man. These offensive and defensive earthworks represent the line at 
which the Indian made his "last ditch," for beyond these fortifica- 
tions there is no trace of the Mound Builder eastward. Becoming 
desperate, as a pursued and oppressed people will upon occasion, the 
Indian rallied, turned upon his oppressor and eventually beat him back 
to the western coast, where, after the lapse of centuries, the Mound 
Builders founded the splendid barbaric civilizations which resulted in 
the Montezumas in Mexico and the Incas of Peru. The mysterious 
tribe of Indians known as the Zunis are also supposed to be lineal 
descendants of the Mound Builders, a portion of that ancient race, 
possibly, who always adhered to their time-honored religious rites, 
who looked upon the gilded advancement of their people as a prof- 
anation in the eyes of their gods, and who took up their dwelling 
places far away from the splendor of the courts of their emperors. 

The idea that the Mound Builders were an older race than the 
Indian has been generally believed, but thinkers are now beginning to 
consider the Red man as one of the Almighty's earliest pieces of 
handiwork. That he was exceedingly inferior to his great antagonist, 
and entirely unacquainted with the least semblance of the arts of war 
is very apparent. He knew nothing of the value of fortifications, 
and in all his contact with the white man he was never known to 
erect any mode of defense whatever, not the simplest piling of one log 
on another. When he endeavored to repel the Mound Builder, from 
whom he may possibly have gained his first lessons in fighting, it is 
thought that his only weapon was nature's first implement of warfare. 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 39 

the club, the Mound Builder using the bow and arrow, and from whom 
the Indian learned the trick of that effective weapon. The Indian of 
to-day has no knowledge of any of his ancestors having made a flint 
arrow-head, and none of those with whom the white man has ever come 
in contact has related any tradition that his people ever made them. 
How an extremely hard piece of flint can be chipped as accurately and 
as delicately as we find in thousands of cases, by a people who seem to 
have had no knowledge of a single metal, is one of those inscrutible 
mysteries destined never to be solved by this age. But these little 
stone missiles have been literally found by the peck. A more ingen- 
ious, a more patient people than the Eed Indian did that work. He 
simply used them after obtaining from his conqueror the "trick of the 
bow and arrow," The retreating Mound Builder left stores of them in 
his flight as a modern army leaves its ammunition when hard pressed. 
Why, the skill of the most experienced lapidary of to-day would be 
taxed except with the best tools to make a fac-simile of a first-class 
flint arrow-head. The lordly Indian of not many centuries ago was 
simply an inferior barbarian with the skin of a wild beast around him 
and a club in his hand. 

The question has frequently been agitated as to whether the 
Indian was naturally warlike and cruel, many contending that up to 
the time that he came in contact with the white man that he was not; 
his advocates and apologists even going so far as to say that he lived 
in a state of absolute peace, that his principal occupation was to hunt 
the wild game, roam through the sylvan dells of the flowery forest, or 
recline beneath the shade of some stately oak, etc., but the facts do 
not bear out this Arcadian theory. When the white man began his 
settlements in the new world he found the Red Man at war with his 
own kind: nation arrayed against nation, and tribe against tribe, and 
when some luckless settler wandered away from his cabin alone he 
rarely returned ; neither age, sex nor helplessness was respected. An 
infant would be snatched from the breast of its mother and its brains 
dashed out against a tree or rock with less feeling than we of to-day 
would kill a chicken. The sentiment of mercy seemed not to have an 
abiding place in the savage breast, and gratitude was unknown; 
treachery seemed inherent, and this faculty was cultivated to such 
extent that whilst in the act of receiving favors and kindness from the 
white man, the ungrateful recipient would strike his friend to the 
earth with his tomahawk. Years of contact with civilization leave no 



40 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

impress upon this savage — he is a savage and nothing more. An 
instance of his extreme treachery and ungratefulness to those who 
would have benefited him may be recalled in the incident happening 
about fifteen years ago, when a party of gentlemen, commissioners of 
the government, were brutually murdered by a number of what were 
supposed to be the better class of Indians, the savages rising Avhilst 
holding a council with the party and striking the unsuspecting and 
unprepared whites to the earth. True it is that the Red men had 
great cause for enmity against the white invaders, who encroached 
upon their favorite hunting grounds, but their acts of barbarity and 
fiendish cruelty outweighed the wrongs inflicted in that respect. The 
old pioneers of this valley learned to cope with the savage foe, and 
soon beat him at his own game. Bitter experience produced those 
sturdy borderers, the Boones, the Frys, the Bradys, the Wetzells and 
the Poes, those fearless advance guards in the march of civilization 
who cut the way with rifle and "long knife" that the wheels of progress 
might onward pass. 

There seems to have been two grand divisions of Indians in Vir- 
ginia when the settlement was made by the whites at Jamestown, those 
inhabiting the country east of the mountains being ruled by Powhattan, 
and those beyond the mountains by some other powerful chieftain, the 
ancestor, doubtless, of the lordly Indian known afterward as Cornstalk. 
The Indians of the east called those across the mountains the Massa- 
womacs, their hereditary and natural enemies. This entire valley 
along the Shenandoah River, at least, is supposed to have been held 
by the powerful confederacy of Shawanees, at the time the first set- 
tlers came here, and were ruled by the father of the great Cornstalk, 
who must then have been a boy in some wigwam along the beautiful 
river just mentioned. This great warrior may have been born and 
reared near the famous Shawnee Spring at AVinchester, which is sup- 
posed to have been the headquarters, or court, of the Indian emperor, 
as it is the only locality in the valley that is known distinctively by 
the title "Shawnee." The Indians as a body, however, left this sec- 
tion about the time of the arrival of the whites, and took up their 
abodes beyond the Alleghany mountains. There is no tradition left 
of any great battle having been fought in this valley by the Shawnees 
and their enemies across the Ridge, but a number of extensive lines 
of graves are to be found, now almost obliterated, along the south 
river as well as in the main valley. The last great battle between pow- 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 41 

erful tribes occurred at about the mouth of the Antietam creek on the 
Maryland side of the Potomac. The Delawares, wlio inhabited the 
eastern and a portion of the middle sections of Pennsylvania, and the 
Catawbas of the South, appear to have been at deadly enmity from time 
immemorial. The Delawares had gone on an expedition against the 
Catawbas, but the latter, pursuing the former, overtook them at the 
Potomac at the old Packhorse Ford, east of Shepherdstown, when a 
battle ensued which resulted in the total annihilation of the Delawares, 
with the exception of one, who, however, being pursued was overtaken 
at the Susquehanna and killed and scalped, but the old chronicler who 
relates this event Avas considerably mistaken, for the Delawares 
many years after that battle were a large tribe, some of their decend- 
ants still living on reservations of land in the West at this date. 
Another battle is said to have occurred at the mouth of the Opequon 
between these same tribes, who would go hundreds of miles for the 
sake of scalping their enemies or getting scalped themselves. Other 
Indian engagements occurred in the adjoining valleys, and one espe- 
cially at the Hanging Rocks, in Hampshire county. The large num- 
ber of graves existing at this point gives evidence of a very sanguin- 
ary affray. These graves have been lately (1889) opened and many 
skeletons and relics have been unearthed by agents of the Smith- 
sonian Institute at Washington. 

Many evidences of Indian settlements were a few years ago to be 
seen along the Shenandoah river, at Shannondale Springs, along Cedar 
creek, the Opequon and Back creek. The Tuscaroras resided on the 
creek of that name in the county of Berkeley. In addition to the set- 
tlement near Winchester known as the " Shawnee Cabins " and " Shaw- 
nee Springs," an Indian town was in existence till a comparatively 
late date on Babb's Marsh, three or four miles northwest of Win- 
chester. " Abraham's Delight," as the old Holliugs worth place was 
named by Abraham Hollingsworth before 1732, was one of the favor- 
ite camping spots, in consequence of water, for the Indians, and the 
famous Morgan Spring on the farm of the present Col. W. A. Morgan, 
near Shepherdstown, was known far and wide among the aborigines. 

As to the character of the Indian, it varied little save in degree of 
ferocity. Frequently some chief woiild attain greater importance than 
his fellows in consequence of the exhibition of sterner stuff in his 
make-up and shrewder qualities in the conduct of a tribal campaign, 
and occasionally one of these chiefs would loom up as a savage Han- 



42 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

nibal or a Caesar. Powhattan and Logan and Cornstalk were exam- 
ples of this class. Of Cornstalk it is said that " he was gifted with 
oratory, statesmanship, heroism, beauty of person and strength of 
frame. In his movements he was majestic; in his manner easy and 
winning." Of his oratory, Col. Benjamin Wilson, an officer in Lord 
Dunmore's army, says: "I have heard the first orators in Virginia, 
Patrick Henry and Eichard Henry Lee, but never have I heard one 
whose powers of delivery surpassed those of Cornstalk." In proof of 
these claims is the fact that he was the head of a great confederacy of 
tribes, and led them at the battle of Point Pleasant. He met his 
death at Point Pleasant in 1777, under the following circumstances: 
Cornstalk had gone to the fort for the purpose of interviewing Capt. 
Arbuckle, the commandant. He was accompanied by Chief Eed Hawk 
and a few attendants. About the time the council closed, two of the 
soldiers returning from a deer hunt, on the opposite side of the river, 
were fired upon by some Indians concealed on the bank, and " whilst 
we were wondering," says Stuart, an eye-witness, "who it could be 
shooting contrary to orders, or what they were doing over the river, 
we saw that Hamilton ran down to the bank, who called out that Gil- 
more was killed. Young Gilmore was from Eockbridge; his family 
and friends had been mostly cut ofp by the incursions headed by Corn- 
stalk in 1763; he belonged to the company of his relative, Capt. 
John Hall. His companions hastily crossed the river, and brought 
back the bloody corpse, and rescued Hamilton from his danger. The 
interpreter's wife, lately returned from captivity, ran out to inquire 
the cause of the tumult in the fort. She hastened back to the cabin 
of Cornstalk, for whom she entertained a high regard for his treatment 
of her, and told him that Elinipsico (son of Cornstalk, who had lately 
arrived at the fort) was charged with bringing the Indians that had 
just killed Gilmore, and that the soldiers were threatening them all 
with death. The young chief denied any participation in the murder. 
The canoe had scarcely touched the shore until the cry was raised, 
' Let lis kill the Indians in the fori,'' and every man, with his gun in his 
hand, came up the bank pale with rage. Capt. Hall was at their head 
and their leader. Capt. Arbuckle endeavored to dissuade them, but 
they cocked their guns, threatened him with instant death if he 
attempted to bar their way, and rushed into the fort. Elinipsico 
hearing their approach trembled greatly. Cornstalk said: 'My son, 
the Great Spirit has seen fit that we should die together, and has sent 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 43 

you here; it is his will; let us submit. It is best.' He turned and 
met the enraged soldiers at the door. In a moment he fell, pierced 
with seven bullets, and expired without a groan. Elinipsico sat un- 
moved upon his stool, received the shots of the soldiers, and expired 
without a motion. Red Hawk endeavored to escape by the chimney, 
but was shot and fell into the ashes." The old writer, Stuart, says 
that " /zo ai^rests were made." It possibly would have been a rather 
tough job to have arrested that company of Rockbridge six-footers 
with gans in their hands, for killing three or four of the red devils, 
as they called the Shawanees. Of all Indians the Shawanees are said 
to have been the most bloody and terrible, holding all other men, 
whites as well as Indians, in contempt as warriors in comparison with 
themselves. This opinion made them more fierce and restless than 
any other savages, and they boasted of having killed ten times as 
many whites as any other Indians. They were a well-formed, ingen- 
ious and active people, presumptions and imperious in the presence of 
others not of their nation, and ahvays cruel. It was chiefly the Sha- 
wanees that defeated Braddock, killing that General and Sir Peter 
Halkett in 1755. They also defeated Major Grant and his Scotch 
Highlanders at Fort Pitt in 1758. ^ 

In regard to the manners, customs, habits, employments, amuse- 
ments, dress, food, habitation, etc., of the Indians, the author has 
compiled the following from various sources reaching back to colonial 
times, which may be found interesting as well as a matter for preser- 
vation : 

« 

When the English first arrived at Jamestown it has been claimed 
that the North American continent was not as thickly inhabited by 
the aborigines as is generally supposed. In fact, it has been doubted 
as to whether their settlements extended to the prairie country of the 
west, for that class of lands would not afPord adequate shelter for 
much of the game desired by the savages, and none at all for the lat- 
ter during the severe winters. It has been computed, therefore, by 
Trumbnll, that only about 150,000 were within the compass of the 
thirteen original States. It is altogether probable that all mount- 
ainous or timbered regions, however, contained large populations, 
even to the lakes and to the Pacific coast, for, as has been attempted 
to be shown by the writer, the Indian is an old inhabitant of America. 
In their physical character the different tribes within the boundaries 
of the United States Avere nearly the same. Their persons were tall, 

4 



44 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

straiglit, and generally well proportioned. Their skins were of a red, 
or copper-brown color; their eyes black, and hair long, black and 
coarse. In constitution they were firm and vigorous, and capable of 
sustaining great fatigue and hardship. 

As to their general character, they were quick of apprehension, 
and not wanting in genius, at times being friendly and even courteous. 
In council they were distinguished for gravity and a certain elo- 
quence; in war for bravery and stratagem. When provoked to anger 
they were sullen and retired, and when determined upon revenge no 
dansrer would deter them ; neither absence nor time could cool them. 
If captured by an enemy they never asked life, nor would they betray 
emotions of fear even in view of the tomahawk or of the kindling 
faggot. 

Education among these rude savages of course had no place, and 
their only evidence of a knowledge of letters was in a few hiero- 
glyphics; the arts they taught their young were war, hunting, fishing, 
and the making of a few articles, most of which, however, were pro- 
duced by the females. Their language was rude, but sonorous, met- 
aphorical and energetic, being well suited to the purposes of public 
speaking, and when accompanied by the impassioned gestures and 
uttered with the deep gutteral tones of the savage, it is said to have 
had a singularly wild and impressive effect. They had some few war 
songs, which were little more than an unmeaning chorus, but it is be- 
lieved .they had no other compositions which could be called such or 
worthy of preservation. Their manufactures were confined to the con- 
struction of wigwams, bows, arrows, wampum, ornaments, stone 
hatchets, mortars for pounding corn, the dressing of skins, weaving 
of coarse mats from the bark of trees, or a wild hemp. The articles 
they cultivated were few in number: Corn, beans, peas, potatoes, 
melons and a few others. 

Their skill in medicine was confined to a few simple preparations 
and operations. Cold and warm baths were often applied, and a con- 
siderable number of plants were used with success. For diseases they 
knew but little remedy, but had recourse to their " Medicine men," 
who treated their patients by means of sorcery. They had few dis- 
eases, however, in comparison to those prevailing among civilized 
people. The women prepared the food, took charge of the domestic 
concerns, tilled the scanty fields, and performed all the drudgery con- 
nected with the camp. Amusements prevailed to some extent, and 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 45 

consisted principally of leaping, running, shooting at targets, dancing 
and gaming. Their dances were usually performed around a large 
fire, and in those in honor of war they sang or recited the feats which 
they or their ancestors had achieved; represented the manner in 
which they were performed, and wrought themselves up to a wild de- 
gree of martial enthusiasm. The females occasionally joined in some 
of these sports, but had none peculiar to themselves. Their dress was 
various. In summer they wore little besides a covering about the 
waist, but in winter they clothed themselves in the skins of wild 
beasts. They were exceedingly fond of ornaments. On days of show 
and festivity their sachems wore mantles of deer skins, embroidered 
with shells or the claws of birds, and were painted with various 
devices. Hideousness was the object aimed at in painting themselves, 
which was intended to strike terror into the hearts of their enemies. 
Chains of fish bones and skins of wild-cats were worn around the 
neck, as marks of royalty. 

In the construction of their habitations the Indians exercised but 
little judgment, their huts, or rather wigwams, consisting of a strong 
pole, erected in the center, around which other poles were driven 
obliquely into the ground and fastened against the center pole at the 
top. These were covered with the bark of trees, and were but poor 
shelters, when considering the amount of material to be obtained in 
the primitive woods. The domestic utensils did not extend beyond a 
hatchet of stone, a few shells and sharp stones which they used in 
place of knives; stone mortars for pounding corn, and mats and skins 
for sleeping upon. They sat, ate and lodged upon the ground. 
With shells and sharp stones they scalped their enemies, dressed their 
game, cut their hair, etc. They made nets of thread or twine, twisted 
from Indian hemp, or of the sinews of the moose and deer, and fish 
hooks from bones bent for the purpose. Their food was of the coars- 
est and simplest kind — the flesh, and even the entrails of birds and 
beasts, and in season corn, beans, peas, etc., together with the fruit, 
nuts and herbs of the forest. They cooked their meat on sticks held 
to the fire, but in some instances boiled it and corn by putting hot 
stones in the water. Parched corn was much used, especially in 
winter, upon which they lived in the absence of other food. Their 
money, called wampum, consisted of small beads wrought from shells, 
and strung on belts and in chains. These wampum beads varied in 
value, according to color, they being black, white, blue, and purple. 



46 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

A belt of wampum was given as a token of friendship, or as a seal or 
confirmation of a treaty. 

There was little among the aborigines that could be called society. 
Except when roused by some strong excitement, the men Avere gener- 
ally indolent, taciturn, and unsocial; the Avomen Avere too degraded to 
think of much besides their toils. Removing too, as the seasons 
changed, or as the game grew scarce, or as danger from a stronger 
tribe threatened, there *was little opportunity for forming those local 
attachments and those social ties, which spring from a long residence 
in a particular spot. Their language, also, though energetic, was too 
barren to serve the purposes of familiar conversation. In order to 
be understood and felt, it required the aid of strong and animated ges- 
ticulation, which could take place only Avhen great occasions excited 
them. It seems, therefore, that they drew no considerable part of 
their enjoyments from intercourse Avith one another. Female beauty 
had little power over the men, and all other pleasures gave Avay to the 
strong impulses of public festivity, the burning and torturing of 
captives, seeking murderous reA^enge, or the chase, or Avar, or glory. 
War Avas the faA'orite employment of these savages. It roused them 
from the lethargy into Avhich they fell Avhen they ceased from their 
hunting excursions, and furnished them an opportunity to distinguish 
themselves — to achieve deeds of glory, and taste the SAveets of re- 
venge. Their Aveapons Avere bows and arrows, headed Avith flint or 
other hard stones, Avhich they discharged Avith great precision and 
force. Some tribes clothed themselves in the thick skins of wild 
beasts, as a defense against the arrows of their enemies. When they 
fought in the open field they rushed to the attack Avith incredible 
fury, at the same time uttering their appalling Avar-Avhoops. Those 
whom they took captive, they usually tortured Avith every variety of 
cruelty, and to their dying agonies added every species of insult. If 
peace Avas concluded, the chiefs of the hostile tribes ratified the 
treaty by smoking in succession the same pipe, called the calumet, or 
pipe of peace. 

The government of the Indians in general Avas an absolute mon- 
archy, though it differed in different tribes. The will of the sachem 
Avas laAv. In matters of moment, lioAveA^er, he consulted his counsel- 
ors, but his decisions Avere final. War and peace, among some tribes, 
Avere determined on in a council formed of old men, distinguished by 
their exploits. When in council they spoke at pleasure, and ahvays 



HISTOKY Of THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 47 

listened to the speaker with profound and respectful silence. Says an 
old writer: " When propositions for war or peace w^ere made, or treat- 
ies proposed to them, by the colonial governors, they met the ambas- 
sadors in council, and at the end of each paragraph or proposition, the 
principal sachem delivered a short stick to one of his council, intimat- 
ing that it was his peculiar duty to remember that paragraph. This 
was repeated till every proposal was finished. They then retired to 
deliberate among themselves. After their deliberations were ended, 
the sachem, or some counselors to whom he had delegated this office, 
replied to every paragraph in its turn, with an exactness scarcely ex- 
ceeded in the written correspondence of civilized powers. Each man 
actually remembered what was committed to him, and with his assist- 
ance, the person who replied remembered the whole," 

The religious notions of the natives consisted of traditions, mingled 
with many curious suj^erstitions. Like the Greeks, Romans, Persians 
and Hindoos, they believed in the existence of two supreme powers, a 
Great Spirit and an Evil Spirit. They in a manner worshiped both, 
and in some instances are said to have formed rude images embody- 
ing their ideas of their deities. They also had great reverence for 
the sun, thunder, lightning, fire, water, and, in fact, any force they 
could not understand or control, which is precisely in accordance with 
the habits of all barbaric or primitive peoples. Their manner of wor- 
ship was to sing and dance around large fires. Besides dancing they 
offered a sort of supplication or prayer, and burned a powder composed 
of pounded roots, also blood, deer suet, and tobacco. Marriage among 
them was generally a temporary contract. The men chose their wives 
agreeable to fancy, and put them away at pleasure. A wedding, how- 
ever, was celebrated with some ceremony, and in many instances 
was observed with fidelity, not infrequently continuing through 
life. Polygamy was common, there being no thought, apparently, of 
its being right or wrong. The treatment of females was cruel and 
oppressive. They were considered by the men as slaves and treated 
as such. Those forms of decorum between the sexes, in which lay 
the foundation for the respectful and gallant courtesy with which 
women are treated in civilized society, were unknown to them, and 
the females were not only required to perform severe labor, but often 
felt the full weight of the passions and caprices of the men. The 
ceremonies after death varied but little among the tribes. The corpse 
was usually laid in shallow holes dug with sharpened sticks, upon a 



48 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

layer of brush and wrapped iu a skin. The arms, utensils and orna- 
ments of the deceased were buried with the remains. Some were 
buried in a sitting posture with face toward the east. Lamentations 
and cries accompanied an interment, which was more owing to cus- 
tom, than in consequence of any grief or regret entertained by rela- 
tives or friends, as they could witness the torture or slaying of their 
own sons without being moved in the least. Stoicism seems to be the 
invariable accompaniment to the character of all primitive people, 
their mode of life rendering that state of mind necessary. 

They had no idea of distinct and exclusive property; lands were 
held in common, and every man had a right to choose or abandon his 
situation with or without regard to any one else. Their knowledge of 
computation is thought not to have been extensive; in fact, very lim- 
ited. The year was known as a cohonk, being so called from the note 
of the wild goose. The term was more particularly applied to a win- 
ter, however, as the geese migrated southward at the approach of that 
season. The months were known as moons, the days as suns, but the 
division of the day into hours was unknown. They kept their 
accounts of any matters of sufficient importance by knots on a string, 
or notches in a stick. 

The Indian's mission, whatever it was, in the econooiy of nature, 
has seemingly been fulfilled. It is extremely doubtful that a single 
one of this ancient race will be alive at the expiration of one hundred 
years hence. He is one of the world's mysteries, and will probably 
remain so to the end of time. 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 49 



CHAPTER IV. 

FIKST SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS. 

Expedition of Gov. Spotsvvood— The Knights of the Golden Horse- 
shoe—Arrival OF First Settlers— New Mecklenburg — The Mor- 
gans-First Cabin— The Hollingsworths, Hite and Others— Quaker 
Settlements— Early Grants— The Great Indian Highway— Settle- 
ments ON the Opequon— Some Early Names — The Bullskin Settle- 
ments — Nationalities and Religions— Fairfax vs. Hite et als. — 
Settlement Retarded — List of the Surveys Made by AVashington 
for Lord Fairfax. 

POSSIBLY the first white man who ever laid eyes upon the beau- 
tiful, fertile, and now populous Shenandoah Valley, was Gov. 
Alexander Spotswood in the year 1716. There may have been 
white prisoners carried off across the Blue Ridge by the Indians, but 
none ever returned to tell the tale till the adventurous govA'nor and 
his followers made their famous trip. Col. Alexander Spotswood was 
a highly educated and gallant soldier in the service of his sovereign, 
and withal an accomplished and enterprising man, who was imbued 
with liberal and progressive ideas, and whose suggestions to the 
British ministry, had they been promptly and fully carried out, would 
have prevented much trouble with the Frencli and resulted in great 
advantage to Britain in America. He was appointed lieutenant-gov- 
ernor in 1710, and immediately began a course that was conservative 
and progressive; evidently being desirous of not only furthering the 
interests of his royal master, but the colony of Virginia as well. He 
had for several years in contemplation the exploration of the country 
west of what were then known as the "high mountains," but in con- 
sequence of the hostility of the Indians it was almost impossible to 
penetrate this western ier'ra incognUa, but having finally consum- 
mated his plans he determined to go upon the expedition. August 1, 
1716, the Knightly Governor, in company with a troop of horsemen, 
consisting of fifty persons iu all, began their westward march from 
the colonial capital. The company comprised a number of gentlemen, 
military ofl&cers, rangers, servants, etc., with a goodly supply of pro- 



50 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

visions, ammunition, and, as an old clironicler puts it, "a varied 
assortment of liquors." After several fights with the hostile savages 
who dogged the footsteps of the party almost from the moment of 
starting, and at the expiration of thirty-six days, at about one o'clock, 
of September 5, 1716, Gov. Spotswood, who Avas slightly in the 
advance, reached the brow of a declivity at the top of the Blue Kidge 
at Swift Run Gap, and the whole glorious view burst upon his enrapt- 
ured sight. For some moments, as the members of the Governor's 
party gathered around him, not a word or sound broke the stillness of 
the awe-inspiring scene, but they soon dismounted from their horses 
and drank the health of the King. And what a vision met their gaze 
as they looked to the westward, northward and southward. As far as 
the eye could reach the most enchanting landscape presented itself. 
To the front of them, to the right and left, rolled miles of tall grass, 
whose golden-green shimmer in that September sun was a marvel to 
behold; the gently undulating expanse of Nature's virgin fields; the 
silvery streams in serpentine coils wound in and out for miles away, 
whilst in the far distance mountain upon mountain seemed piled one 
upon the other, until lost in the blue and gold of the clouds, challeng- 
ing the eye to define where cloud began and mountain ceased. Never 
befo^c^ad these explorers witnessed the like of this enrapturing fairy 
scene, and they gazed long and intensely, as thousands have done 
since then, and as others may do to this day. Even to the present 
dwellers in the valley the gorgeous and bewildering landscape visible 
from almost any point of the Blue Eidge Mountains is a continuous 
revelation, they never tiring in their admiration of its beauties; and 
an old mountain hunter who has stood, perchance, upon every peak of 
this range rarely fails to rest his hands upon his trusty rifle and gaze 
down into the green valley with the glistening Shenandoah braAvling 
far beneath him. Upon the return of Spotswood and his party the 
governor, in commemoration of the event, had a number of golden 
horseshoes struck, each of which had inscribed upon it, " Sic jurai 
iranscendere Monies'''' — "Thus he swears to cross the mountains." 

From the date of Spotswood's expedition till, possibly, 1725, there 
is no record of any attempt to make a settlement in the Shenandoah 
Valley, and even then it was not made from the direction of the seat 
of the colonial government, that is, from the eastward; but instead, 
the fame of the great Virginia Valley, for its splendid land, fine water 
courses, and beautiful mountains, attracted the attention of some 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 51 

thrifty Germans who had settled in Pennsylvania, along the Susque- 
hanna, and in York and Lancaster Counties. A number of these 
people moved southward, through Maryland, and crossed the river a 
few miles above where now is Harper's Ferry, settling along the 
Cohongoruton (Potomac), from the junction of that stream with the 
Gerando (Shenandoah), westward for ten or fifteen miles. These Ger- 
mans were undoubtedly the first persons to make a permanent settle- 
ment in the Valley of Virginia, and they founded a village in their 
midst about 1726 or 1727, calling it New Mecklenburg, in honor of 
that portion of their fatherland from which they had emigrated to 
America. The names of most of these Germans may be found to-day 
in the northern portion of Jefferson County, and belonging to many 
of the oldest and most respectable families of that section. Mecklen- 
burg, as will be shoM'n further along, was changed to Shepherdstown 
after Mr. Thomas Shepherd came in, but the village was not organized 
by law until 1762. Mr. Howell Brown, county surveyor of Jefferson, 
puts the settlement of Mecklenburg at 1728, but the names of those 
who settled there cannot now be obtained, as the date of their location 
was prior to the issuance of any grant in that section, they being sim- 
ply "squatters" upon the land, and afterward purchasing their rights 
to the property. Many of these settlers purchased from Bicham^^p 
Morgan, a Welshman, who obtained a grant for a large body of land 
not long after 1730. This Richard Ap Morgan was the great-grand- 
father of Col. W. A. Morgan, of Morgan's Spring, whose father was 
named Abel, and whose grandfather was Abraham, the last named 
being killed by a stone falling upon him when building the small 
stone mill which stands just north of High Street in Shepherdstown. 
On High Street between Princess and Mill Streets, there is a small log 
house which is believed to have been built by the first Morgan, and is 
doubtless one of the first, if not the first, buildings erected in the entire 
Shenandoah Valley. / This log structure is joined on what is known as 
the " horse and saddle " plan, and is yet in good preservation, although 
bearing evidence of great antiquity. Many of the farms surrounding 
the homestead of Col. Morgan originally belonged to the Morgan es- 
tate, being cut off and sold at various periods, and among the pieces 
of property thus separated the one on which stands the old log cabin 
passed into the possession of Dr. Reynolds several years ago. Another 
Morgan, according to Hawks in his " History of the Episcopal Church 
of Virginia," settled in the lower valley, but whether he confounded 



52 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

the two families is difficult to say. He at least places his " first set- 
tler " at a period ante-dating Kercheval's " first settler " by six years. 
Hawks says: " Morgan Morgan was a native of Wales, whence he emi- 
grated in early life to the province of Pennsylvania. In the year 1726 
he removed to what is now the county of Berkeley, in Virginia, and 
built the first cabin which was reared on the south side of the Poto- 
mac, between the Blue Ridge and the North Mountain. He was a 
man of exemplary piety, devoted to the church; and in the year 1740, 
associated with Dr. John Briscoe and Mr. Hite. he erected the first 
Episcopal Church in the valley of Virginia. This memorial of his 
zeal, it is believed, is still standing, and now forms that part of the 
parish of Winchester which is known as "Mill Creek Church." This 
statement was published in 183G. 

From the settlement of Pennsylvania by the arrival of William 
Penn and his treaty with the Indians in 1682, a large influx of im- 
migrants came to the new colony, among whom were, of course, many 
of the same faith as Penn, thrifty, well-to-do people; also a large 
number of Protestant Germans, all of whom settled upon the rich 
lands along the Susquehanna and other water courses of Pennsylvania. 
These people in time hearing of the fertile valley of Virginia sought for 
locations therein, and among the first to obtain a grant from the gov- 
ernor of Virginia was Alexander Ross, a Quaker, who secured forty 
thousand acres, locating the same north and west and soath of where 
now stands Winchester. This was in 1730, or thereabouts, for the 
original survey made by the surveyor of Ross, named Ro. Brooks, 
laying ofif the boundaries of a tract of land containing 583 acres on 
Abraham's Creek, about one mile southeast of Winchester, is still in the 
possession of the Hollingsworth family, for whose ancestor the survey 
was made. /This survey is dated November 23, 1732, and Abraham 
Hollingsworth was the party to whom the land was conveyed. The 
Hollingsworths say that Abraham had been living there as a squatter 
on the land for several years prior to the time that Ross, who having 
obtained his grant from Gov. Gooch, sent his agent around over 
his domain to collect pay from those who were settled thereon. Abra- 
ham not only paid Ross for his farm, but afterward, to save litigation 
and trouble, also paid Lord Fairfax a nominal sum to quiet his claim, 
for that thrifty scion of nobility, as will be further shown, had a 
wonderful eye for the main chance. Abraham Hollingsworth, from 
these facts, was doubtless the first settler of this immediate section (now 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 53 

the upper portion of Frederick County), for the creek along which his 
land was located was named after him, showing that he had settled at 
that spot some time before.!^ The father of Abraham Hollingsworth, 
whose name was David, paid a visit to his son in this same year, 1732, 
and was killed by a buffalo over near the North Mountain, whilst on a 
hunting expedition. There was a Parkins family at this time living 
not far from Hollingsworth's. A number of Quakers about this period, 
some of whom purchased from Ross, made settlements on Apple-pie 
Ridge, and elsewhere not far off, among whom were the Bransons, 
Luptons, Walkers, Beesons, Barretts, McKays, Hackneys, Neills, Dil- 
lons and others, and about eight or nine miles southwest of Winches- 
ter Avere several families of Fawcetts, many of whose descendants 
migrated westward, but some of whom still occupy the original lands. 
It is said that those who settled on Ross' lands, and the Quakers gen- 
erally, were free from all depredations of the Indians, for the fame of 
Penn as a pacificator and as a man who always treated the aborigines 
with justice, paying them for their lands, etc., reached far and wide 
among the savages. 

All th e se ttlers at tins perio^l^ l i "3Q. and onward for ten years o r 
more, came from the northward, as already indicated, for between the 
valley and the "low country," or east Virginia settlements, lay what 
was considered at that time a range of almost insurmountable mount- 
ains without any roads crossing them, save " trails " only known to the 
Indians; and between these mountains and the eastern settlements 
roamed thousands of the relentless savages, which constituted the suc- 
cessful expedition of Spotswood one of the most Avonderful exploits 
known to history, for how his little band escaped annihilation is almost a 
miracle. In addition to these reasons explaining the curious fact that 
Virginians were the last persons to settle the western section of their 
own colony, comes another cause, and a very potent one: the "low 
country " people were generally large land owners and did not need 
any extension of their domains; besides, they had inherited a certain 
conservatism, being descended from the Cavaliers, mostly, which trait 
exhibited itself in their evidently sullen acceptance of Cromwell and 
the Commonwealth and their joyful hailing of Charles II. at the Res- 
toration. [To digress a moment, and jump from 1730 to 1889, the 
author is impelled to here note the fact that that ancient conservatism 
has not been even to this date eliminated: Ave still move slowly; but 
then it is a moot question whether all this rush and scramble after 



54 HISTOllY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

wealth produces more happiness than the old way. The Chinese say 
no: — their result — an empire 3,000 years old and 400,000,000 popula- 
tion, but Tennyson says, " Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of 
Cathay."] 

I In addition to the Germans who first came and the Quakers, also 
came many Irish and Scotch-Irish, with a few Welsh and Hollanders, 
or Dutch, from New York, among the latter being the Vanswearingens 
and the Vanmeters; among the Welsh the Morgans and others, and 
among the Scotch-Irish those who settled along Back Creek and on 
the Opequon. i These nationalities professing religions in opposition 
to the established churches of their native countries sought relief from 
persecution in the New World. The Catholics also found congeniality 
in Maryland, remained there after arriving in America, and scarcely a 
single one emigrated to this valley in the early times. ' A number of 
Scotch-Irish families also settled along the Tuscarora and Mill Creek, 
as well as a few English and Welsh who held to the English estab- 
lished church, among these being Morgan Morgan, the Briscoes and 
others. The grandfather of Mr. J. H. Smith, of Smithfield, now in 
Jefferson County, upon whose place occurred the famous operations of 
the "spooks" who were charged with clipping off the coat tails of sun- 
dry gentlemen, and whence arose the title to the locality of "Wizzard 
Clip," obtained a grant from Gov. Gooch as early as 1729 of 4,000 
acres of land, and in connection with which an extraordinary exhibi- 
tion of vitality is claimed. It would strike one at first thought that 
it would be impossible for the grandfather of a gentleman now living 
to have been a man grown in 1729, but Mr. Smith informed Col. H. B. 
Davenport, who related it to the author, that his grandfather was 
eighty years old when his son, the father of Mr. J. H. Smith, was born, 
and that he (J. H. ) was born when his father was eighty years of age. 
The route taken by these early settlers to reach the valley was one 
and only one. Starting from York, Penn., not only those living in that 
locality but those who came from New York, passed down through 
Maryland and struck the Potomac at the old Packhorse Ford just 
east of Shepherdstown, which at that date was simply a portion of an 
Indian trail, but it was the great northern and southern highway of 
the aborigines for, possibly, centuries, and along which hostile tribes 
had marched and camped, the Delawares going southward to meet 
their enemies, the Catawbas, going northward. The great Shawnee 
tribe, also, with that majestic savage emperor, the famous Cornstalk, 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 55 

wlio had no peer in power and sway in Indian annals and tradition but 
Powhattau himself, has doubtless crossed this old ford many a time, 
with little thought that a century later his great enemy, the white man, 
should be engaged near that very spot, one against the other, in a 
struggle that for loss of life and suffering would put to shame the 
bloodiest battle in which he had ever engaged. 

Several years prior to the settlement of any portion of the valley 
by the white man, when the Shawnees held undisputed possession of 
the country along the Shenandoah from the Potomac southward, fre- 
quent warlike excursions were made by the Delawares to the country 
of the Catawbas, who were the natural enemies of the northern tribes, 
and on one of these expeditions they were accompanied by a white 
man named John Vanmeter, a Dutchman, or of Dutch descent, from 
New York. This Vanmeter was evidently one of those early advent- 
urous spirits who loved battle and danger for itself, or possibly was 
a trader, his Hollandish origin prompting him to ways of traffic. At 
any rate he knew a good thing when he saw it, for upon his return to 
Pennsylvania after the Catawbas had not only refused to be extermin- 
ated, but had driven their invaders back, he set about turning an 
honest penny in land speculation. In passing along the South Branch 
he noticed the richness and beauty of the country and, after reaching 
home, he proceeded to make application to the governor of Virginia 
for a grant of 40,000 acres of that same land, which was given him, it 
is altogether probable, without a quibble, for what was a few thousand 
acres worth in that far away savage land? He also told his sons to 
settle there by all means, whenever they turned their eyes southward, 
which one of them did, and some of his descendants are living there 
to this day and are among the most respected families of Virginia. 
This refers to the Vanmeters on the South Branch. Now the original 
John and his son Isaac, or his two sons John and Isaac, having 
obtained the grant spoken of, which was on this side of the mount- 
ain, along and south of the Opequon, in 1730, sometime afterward 
sold the grant to a man in Pennsylvania, whom two of the histor- 
ians of the valley have called Joist Hite, Kercheval haviug so spelled 
it, and the rest following that pleasant old chronicler. The author 
hereof has investigated the matter somewhat, and is extremely doubt- 
ful whether any mother ever gave so singular a cognomen to her 
offspring as Joist. He is of opinion that if Hite*' was Scotch- 
Irish, as some suppose, that his christian name was Joyce, a pecu- 



56 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

liarly Irish appellation. If he was German, his name Avas doubt- 
less Jost, that is Yosf, the German J being pronounced yof. The 
writer is therefore of the impression that this first settler on the upper 
Opequon was named Yost Heit*, the word heit being a frequent ter- 
mination of German words. He is also borne out in this idea by 
the fact that one at least of Kite's descendants was known as Yost 
Hite. Be this as it may, the man known as Joist Hite came from 
York, Pennsylvania, in the year 1732, bringing with him his three 
sons-in-law, and following in his wake a number of others, mak- 
ing in all about sixteen families. The old gentleman having first 
choice, settled on the Opequon, five miles south of where Winchester 
now stands, and upon the great Indian highway to the upper valley, 
which was afterward enlarged, macadamized, and is now kno"s<^n as the 
Valley Turnpike. Jacob Chrisman, one of his sons-in-law, proceeded 
two miles farther south, on the same road, and settled at a spring, the 
place being still known as Chrisman's Spring; another son-in-law, 
George Bowman, moved still farther south on Cedar Creek; whilst the 
other, Paul Froman, located several miles west of Bowman on the 
same stream. Peter Stephens and several others settled at what is 
now Stephens City, but which Avas at first known as Stephensburg, then 
Newtown, and Newtown- Stephensburg. Stephens founded the town in 
conjunction with several others, and named it aftdr himself. Rob- 
ert McKay, William Duff and Robert Green were three other heads 
of families who came with Hite. McKay settled on Crooked Run, 
about nine miles southeast of Stephensburg, and DufP and Green, 
who subsequently obtained a grant in connection with Hite, for one 
hundred thousand acres additional land, located their portion of the 
tract east of the Blue Ridge, and settled over there. Their respec- 
tive families becoming among the leading citizens of that section, and 
one of their mutual descendants. Gen. Duff Green, attaining con- 
siderable eminence. Some of the descendants of Jost Hite became 
prominent citizens throughout the valley, one of them. Col. Hite. 
being a gallant Revolutionary ofiicer, and another, who settled in the 
lower part of the valley, became wealthy, whilst still another is named 
as one of the three gentlemen who built the first Episcopal Church 

* Since writing tliis portion of tliis cliaptcr the author has found the name Y(M Hite in hundreds 
of instances in the justices' order l)ool\S and in the first deed IjoolvS, thus conflrining- tlie conclusions 
he liad arriveil at previously. Wliy the writer of a history should neglect the old records in his searcij 
for facts and names is a mystery, but such has been the case with all who have heretofore written any- 
thing in relation to the valley. 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. o7 

south of the Potomac in the valley, the other two being Morgan Mor- 
gan and Dr. Briscoe. 

As stated previously Richard Ap Morgan having obtained a large 
grant of land on the Potomac in the vicinity of the old Packhorse 
Ford, and at what is now Shepherdstown, he was soon followed after his 
settlement there by a number of persons, to whom he sold various 
tracts, some of whose descendants retain possession of those first pur- 
chases to the present time. | In 1734 Eobert Harper settled at the 
junction of the two rivers, Potomac and Shenandoah, and established 
a ferry, which he ran for many years, and to which picturesque 
locality he has left his name. Thomas Shepherd also came about tliis 
time, and, obtaining possession of the German settlement, Mecklen- 
burg, re-christened it after himself, Shepherdstown, but the village 
was not organized by law till 1762. Also came about this time to the 
same vicinity William Strope, Israel Friend, Thomas and William For- 
rester, Thomas and Van Swearingen, Edward Lucas, James Foreman, 
John Lemon, Jacob Hite (a son of Jost Hite), Richard Mercer, 
Thomas Rutherford, Edward Mercer, Jacob Vanmeter and a brothef, 
Eobert Stockton, Robert Buckles, John and Samuel Taylor, John 
Wright, and several others whose names cannot now be recalled./ 

Col. Robert Carter, afterward known as " King Carter," of Staf- 
ford, in 1780 obtained from Gov. Gooch a grant of sixty-three 
thousand acres of land running from just below the forks of the Shen- 
andoah along that river for about twenty miles, but for many years 
this immense tract of valuable land contained upon it not one actual 
settler, it being farmed, or at least attended to, by overseers and 
slaves of the Colonel, who was an exceedingly rich man, being pos- 
sessed of much other property. 

The fine plantation known as Long Meadows was opened about 
1740 by one of Jost Hite's sons, Isaac, and about the same time 
John Lindsay and James Lindsay settled at Long Marsh between 
Berryville and the Bullskin. In 1743 two or three persons came in 
from New Jersey, among whom was Isaac Larue, who also settled on 
the Marsh, and at the same time came Christopher Beeler, who 
located not far from Larue, The following year Joseph Hampton 
and two sons came from the eastern shore of Maryland and began a 
settlement on Buck Marsh, near where now stands Berryville. There 
is a tradition among the older residents of Clarke County that Hamp- 
ton and his sons lived the first season of their residence in the hoi- 



58 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

low of a large sycamore tree, which tree was pointed out for many 
years afterward, but has now entirely disappeared. Joseph Carter 
came from Bucks County, Penn., in 1743, and made a settlement 
about five miles east of Winchester, on the Opequon. A fine spring 
was near where Carter settled and it was a favorite camping ground 
of the Indians. William and John Vestall made a settlement at a 
very early date about six miles east of Charlestowu. While they 
were building a stone house they were attacked by Indians and driven 
across the Shenandoah to the mountain. When they retvirned one 
of them brought a yellowish stone from across the river, which marks 
the point where they had left off building in consequence of the at- 
tack. This house still stands, but the inscription on one end has been 
partially obliterated, which has given rise to a dispute as to the name 
being Vest, Vesta or Vestal. The author, however, has found in the 
"List of Surveys made by George Washington for Lord Fairfax" 
the name three times occurring, Vestall. 

Most of the settlements along the Bullskin Creek, and at, and 
above the head of that stream, were made not earlier than about 1760, 
among the first being the AUemongs and Kileys. Later still, Ealph 
Wormlv purchased a grant of thirteen thousand acres of land imme- 
diately adjoining " King " Carter's domain, for which he paid only 
five hundred guineas. This tract was sold at auction in Williamsburg, 
and Col. Washington, who had surveyed the land and knew its value, 
advised Wormly to purchase it. This splendid tract of land, which 
included some of the finest acres of Jefferson, passed from the posses- 
sion of the Wormlys many years ago. A great deal of the best land 
of the entire Lower Shenandoah Valley remained untouched, the set- 
tlers preferring the larger streams and locating near the mountains. 
Among the earliest settlers of this region at the time of the organi- 
zation of Frederick County, appear the following names, in addition 
to those already given: The Bussells, Whites, Blackburns, Newells, 
Frys, Wilsons, Hoges, Aliens, Glasses, Calmes, Kerfoots, Helmes, 
Vances, Porteus, Steermans, Newports, Johnstons, Burdens, McMa- 
hons. Harts, Penningtons, McCrachans, etc. These names comprise 
several nationalities: Germans, Irish, Scotch, Welsh and English. In 
addition to these a colony of Baptists, consisting of fifteen families, 
came from New Jersey in 1742 and located in the vicinity of where 
now is Gerrardstown, in Berkeley County, the settlement taking its 
name from a Baptist minister, Bev. John Gerrard, who formed the 




<?C^»-C5^ 



HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 61 

first Baptist organization in the valley, the society shortly afterward 
building their first church. 

As heretofore statec' a number of persons had obtained grants of 
land from the governor and the colonial legislature before Fairfax dis- 
covered that he might claim all the territory beyond the Blue Ridge 
west and north of the head of the Rappahannock to the head of the 
Potomac, or some stream that helped to form that river, and the man- 
ner in which he first came to the knowledge that the Potomac did not 
head in the Blue Ridge, is said to be as follows: A hunter named 
Howard on one of his expeditious crossed the Alleghany Mountains 
from the valley, and being of an adventurous spirit constructed a 
canoe and went down the Ohio River, where he was made prisoner by 
the French and sent to France, Avhereupon, being released, he made 
his way to England and came to the knowledge of Lord Fairfax, to 
whom the hunter described the splendid country between the two 
great chains of mountains. His lordship then made application to 
the crown for an extension, or rather, a re-limitation of his grant, 
which was conceded, and he forthwith began selling, or granting 
away bodies of land already settled upon or held by right of grant 
from Gov. Gooch. Some of the settlers submitted to the exac- 
tions of Fairfax and paid him nominal sums, but sturdy old Jost 
Hite rebelled against any such high-handed proceeding and refused 
to pay a ha'penny to the Scotch laird, so the proprietor of the North- 
ern Neck entered a caveat against Hite, which resulted in a suit at 
law instituted in 1736 by Hite, McKay, Green, and Duff against Lord 
Fairfax, which cause was only finally settled in 1786, just fifty years 
after its entrance upon the docket, in favor of the heirs of the plain- 
tiffs, Hite et als, the original contestants being all dead. A large 
sum of money from rents, quit-rents and profits, and considerable 
land was recovered. 

The litigation brought about by Fairfax retarded to a very large 
degree the early settlement of the lower valley, for immigrants from 
other colonies who wished to settle here, upon finding the state of 
affairs, moved farther up the valley on to the grant of Lord Beverly, 
which comprised Augusta County. This is the reason why the upper 
valley was more thickly populated at an early day than the Lower 
Shenandoah Valley. 

As a matter of interest and for the better preservation of the names 
of some of the earliest settlers of this portion of the valley, the follow- 



62 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

iug field notes of George Washington, who surveyed much of the land 
belonging to Lord Fairfax in the Northern Neck, are herein printed. 
These field notes of his surveys of a large number of tracts of laud 
are copied from one of Washiugton's "field books," entitled, "A Jour- 
nal of my Journey over the Mountains, began Friday, the 11th of 
March, 1747-8," The list contains only those surveys within the 
bounds laid out by this work, with a few. exceptions, and many of the 
names will be very familiar to the residents of this region. It will be 
seen the list is arranged alphabetically, and the names of those who 
acted as markers, chain-carriers, and assistants are given. Of course 
the annexed surveys are not all that Washington made in this section, 
but they are, possibly, all that are now known to exist. The G. W. 
Fairfax mentioned in the surveys was George William Fairfax, son of 
William Fairfax, of Belvoir on the Potomac nearly opposite Mount 
Vernon. G. W. Fairfax and G. Washington were about the same 
age, and both were employed by Lord Fairfax to survey a portion of 
his immense estate. Following is the list: 

John Anderson, a tract of land surveyed for on Long Marsh, ad- 
joining John Vance's land, October 19, 1750. He assisted as chain 
man in survey of two several tracts of land for Isaac Foster, October 
22, 1750. Anderson's land adjoined Kobert Fox's. 

Jonathan Arnold, a tract of land surveyed for on N. River of 
Cacapon, April 20, 1750. His land adjoined that of David Wood's. 
He acted as marker in the survey. April 21, in survey of land for 
Robert Lindsay he was the marker. 

Capt. Thomas Ashby kept a house of entertainment and a ferry on 
the Shenandoah River, above Barwell's Island, 1748. It is presumed 
that from him came the name of Ashby's Gap in the Blue Ridge. 

Henry Ashby served as chain man, in survey of land, for G. W. 
Fairfax on Long Marsh March 15, 1748. March 29 he assisted as 
chain man in survey of land on the south fork of south branch for 
Michael Stump. 

Robert Ashby assisted as marker in survey for G. W. Fairfax on 
Long Marsh March 15, 1748. Had survey made of a tract of land 
for himself adjoining Carter's line, and the Fairfax road of 346 acres 
October 27, 1750. He served as marker. His land adjoined lands of 
Robert Fox. 

William Baker, a tract of land on Lost River of Cacapon, surveyed 
for November 10, 1749. His land adjoined lands of Barnaby McHandry. 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 63 

Col. Blackburn owned laud and lived on Long Maish, I'red- 

erick County, adjoining lands of William Johnston before March 15, 
1748. His lines cited in surveys of this date. 

Henry Bradshaw had lands on Bullskin adjoining lands of Law- 
rence Washington, August 2'4, 1750, Lines referred to in said survey. 

Capt. Marquis Calmes, a tract of land on south side of Bullskin, 
surveyed for November 3, 1750, he himself serving as marker in this 
survey of 1,170 acres. 

Maj. Andrew Campbell, one of the justices of Frederick County, 
owned land and resided about twenty-five miles northwest of Winches- 
ter, on the road to Old Town, in Maryland. George Washington and 
G. W. Fairfax stopped with him over night, March 17, 1748. 

Jacob Camperlin, mentioned in connection with the survey of a tract 
of land for Hannah Southerd October 29, 1750, which adjoined lands 
of G. W. Fairfax, Robert Ashby and Widow Jump. 

Peter Camperlin, referred to as the late, whose widow, Hannah 
Southerd, for whom a survey of land was made October 29, 1750, had 
resided there. 

Samuel Camperlin, mentioned in the notes of the survey of land 
for Hannah Southerd October 29, 1750, was resident and owner of land. 

Francis Carney served as a marker in a survey of land for Capt. 
George Neavil, adjoining Morrison's patent, October 30, 1750, on 
Long Marsh. 

Thomas Carney served as chain carrier in survey for Maj. Law- 
rence Washington on Bullskin, August 24 and 25, 1750. 

Richard Carter owned large tracts on Long Marsh, adjoining 
Samuel Isaacs and John Anderson's, October 19, 1750. 

John Collins had settled on land in the vicinity of Moorefield be- 
fore 1748. Washington and G. W. Fairfax staid over night with him 
April 9, 1748, en route homeward from South Branch surveys. Col- 
linsville, in Frederick County, possibly perpetuates the name of this 
pioneer family. 

Tliomas Colston owned land on Long Marsh near Fairfax County 
I'oad October 19, 1750. His lands adjoined Isabelle Jump's and John 
Vance's. 

John Cozin, or Cuzin, owned land and resided on Long Marsh in 
Mai'ch, 1748. His house referred to in survey of land for Thomas 
Lofton October 17, 1750, and in which survey he was a chain carrier. 
And October 18, 1750, chain man in survey for G. Smith. And same 



64 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

day marker in a survey of tract for himself which adjoined Smith's 
and Lofton's laud. 

William Crawford, chain man in survey of land for Richard Steph- 
enson, and William Davis on Bullskin, August 20, 1750. August 
21, 1750, chain man in survey for Lawrence Washington. August 24 
and 25 chain carrier for same parties. October 19 served as chain 
carrier in survey for John Vance. Was this person the same as Col. 
William Crawford of the Revolution? [It undoubtedly was, as he 
was born and raised in what was then Frederick County.] — Ed. 

Col. Thomas Cresap of Old Town, Md., visited by Washington en 
route to Patterson Creek, while surveying for Lord Fairfax, March 
21, 1748. Owing to a storm he was delayed several days at Cresap's, 
where he met a party of thirty Indians returning from war in the 
South with one scalp. 

Ralph Croft was chain carrier in survey of a tract of laud for John 
Anderson, October 19, 1750. He was also chain carrier in survey of 
land for Isaac Foster, October 22, 1750. 

Nathaniel Daughily owned land on Long Marsh. His corner is 
mentioned in survey for Patrick Rice, October 23, 1750. 

William Davis, lands surveyed for, and Richard Stephenson, on a 
branch of the Bullskin, August 20, 1750, adjoined the lands of Law- 
rence Washington. 

G. AV. Fairfax owned lands, on Long Marsh. Adjoined lands of 
Pennington, Johnston and John Cozens, 1748. March 15, 1748, had 
surveyed for 3,023 acres on Long Marsh. 

Thomas Lord Fairfax, baron of Cameron, the proprietary owner of 
the Northern Neck, estimated to contain 5,700,000 acres, reserved 
10,000 acres in his manor of " Greenway Court," about twelve miles 
southeast of Winchester. Sold his lands, giving fixed time, on a 
small annual ground rent. 

Isaac Foster served as chain carrier October 19, 1750, in survey 
for John Anderson. His land adjoined that of John Vance's. Octo- 
ber 22, 1750, had surveyed a tract of land for himself adjoining John 
Anderson and John Vance. 

Robert Fox, a tract of land surveyed for of 1,216 acres, October 
29, 1750, which adjoined Robert Ashby's, in Carter's line. He served 
as marker himself. 

James Genu, one of the licensed surveyors in 1748, of Frederick 
County. 



HISTORY OF THE LOWEll SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 65 

George Hampton was chain carrier in survey of a tract of land for 
Isabella Jump October 19, 1750, on Long Marsh. 

Joseph Hampton, marker in survey of a tract of land on Long 
Marsh for Isabella Jump, October 19, 1750. 

Richard Hampton served as chain carrier in survey of land for 
Capt. George Neavil, October 30, 1750, which land adjoined Mor- 
rison's patent. 

Thomas Hampton, chain carrier in survey of a tract of land for 
John Vance, on Long Marsh, October 19, 1750; chain man in survey 
of land for John Madden, October 24, 1750, and October 30, chain 
carriei" in survey of a tract of land for Capt. George Neavil. 

Henry Harris owned a tract of land, wliere he resided, near the 
Manor Line, 1748, adjoining the lands of Widow Wolf, Frederick 
County. 

Joshua Haynes owned lands on Bullskin and adjoined lands of 
Capt. George Johnston August 28, 1750, and was marker in survey 
of lands for Capt. George Johnston. 

Solomon Hedges had settled on Patterson Creek, some forty miles 
from its mouth. He was one of the justices of the peace for Fred- 
erick County. Washington and Fairfax camped there March 26, 1748. 
He had neither knives nor forks on his table at supper. 

Henry Hendricks, chain man in survey of Isaac Pennington's 
patent, October 23, 1750, and waste land adjoining. 

Captain Hite had settled on land near Winchester. Washing- 
ton left his baggage there while he went to different places to prose- 
cute his surveys. March 14, 1748. 
^y George Horner laid warrant for 200 acres of -land in Frederick 
"'^ County in 1748. 

Joseph Howt (from New England, possibly it is the same person 
given as James How) had warrant (1748) for 400 acres of land in 
Frederick County. 

Samuel Isaac, a tract of land surveyed for on Long Marsh October 
22, 1750. His land adjoined those of Isaac Pennington. October 
21-, 1750, was marker in survey for Jeremiah Wood, whose land 
adjoined his own. 

" Joe's Hole," a name given to a place of some local note, is men- 
tioned in survey of a tract of land for John Madden October 24, 1750, 
on Long Marsh. 

John Johnson, chain carrier in survey of land for Capt. George 
Johnstone on Bullskin August 28, 1750. 



66 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Abram Johnstone owned land and resided on Patterson Creek, 
fifteen miles from its mouth, March 25, 1748. 

Capt. George Johnston, a tract of land surveyed for on south 
side of Bullskin August 28, 1750. Adjoined lauds of 'G. W. Fairfax 
and Robert Ashby. 

Thomas Johnston owned lands on Long Marsh adjoining G. W. 
Fairfax's lands March, 1718. Line referred to in survey of Thomas 
Lofton. 

AVilliam Johnston owned lands on Long Marsh. Joined lands of 
Col. Blackstone, 1758. 

Thomas Jones, chain carrier in survey of land for Capt. George 
Johnstone on Bullskin August 28, 1750. 

Isabella Jump, widow, a tract of land surveyed for on Long Marsh 
October 19, 1750, near the Fairfax County road. Adjoins lands of 
Hannah Southerd. 

John Keith, chain carrier in survey of land for Henry Enoch April 

23, 1750, and on the same day was chain man in survey of land for 
' John Newton. 

T. Keys had settled and owned lauds adjoining lands of Lawrence 
Washington in 1750. His line mentioned in survey of L. Washing- 
ton's survey August 24 and 25, 1750. 

Samuel Kinsman laid warrant in Frederick County for 400 acres, 
1748. 

James Kinson laid warrant on Lost River for 400 acres of land, 
1748. 

John Lindsey, marker in survey of land for John Madden, October 

24, 1750, on Long Marsh. 

Thomas Lofton, a tract of land surveyed for on Bullskin, October 
17, 1750. He served as marker October 18, 1750; acted as chain 
carrier in survey for G. Smith, on Long Marsh. 

Thomas Lofton, Jr., carried chain in survey of land for John 
Cosine on the Long Marsh, October 18, 1750. 

Timothy McCarty, chain carrier in survey for Lawrence Washing- 
ton on Bullskin August 26, 1750. 

Thomas McClahan, chainman in survey of land for Jeremiah Wood 
on the Long Marsh, October 24, 1750. 

Dr. James McCormick patented land on Bullskin, adjoined Capt. 
George Johnstone's August 28, 1750. His line mentioned in the sur- 
vey of Capt. Marquis Calmes, November 3, 1750. in whose survey he 
acted as chain carrier. 



HISTORY OF THE LOWEE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 67 

Darby McKeaver, Sr., laid warrant for 400 acres of laud in Fred- 
erick County, 1748. April 10, 1750, had survey of tract on Cacapon 
in Frederick County surveyed 412^ acres. Same day surveyed waste 
land between Darby McKeaver and son divided between them. 

Daniel McKleduff, marker in survey of land on branch of Bull- 
skin August 20, 1750, for Richard Stephenson and William Davis. 
Marker in survey for Maj. Lawrence Washington August 21 to 23, 
1750. 

John Madden, a tract of land surveyed for at "Joe's Hole" on 
Long Marsh, near the Fairfax road, October 24, 1750. 

Patrick Matthews had taken up land on south side of Bullskin 
adjoining survey of Capt. George Johnstone before August 28, 1750, 
when his line Avas referred to. 

John Miller, marker in survey for John Anderson on Long Marsh 
October 19, 1750, and marker in survey October 22, for Isaac Foster, 
and same day marker in survey for Samuel Isaac. 

Morris's patent adjoined lands of Maj. Lawrence Washing- 
ton, as determined by survey to both August 22 to 23, 1750. Also 
mention is made of Morris's patent in survey of Capt. George Neavil, 
October 30, 1750. 

Edward Musgrove, a tract of land surveyed for on Shenandoah, 
August 16, 1750. Adjoins lands of William Vestall. 

John Musgrove, marker in survey of land for Edward Musgrove 
on Shenandoah River, August 16, 1750, and which adjoined his own 
patented lands, 

Ned Musgrove, marker in survey of lands for Edward Musgrove, 
August 16, 1750. 

Capt. George Neavil, a tract of land surveyed for on Long Marsh 
adjoining Morris's patent, north side of Fairfax road, October 30, 1750. 
i^- Capt. Isaac Pennington* had procured land about sixteen miles 
below Winchester on Bullskin before 1748. George Washington 
lodged with him the first night he was out as a surveyor in the valley. 
His lines mentioned in survey of lands for Thomas Lofton, October 
17, 1750. A tract of land surveyed for adjoining his own patent on 
Long Marsh, October 23, 1750. He served as his own marker of the 
line. 

Andrew Pitts, patent for land on Bullskin, August 20, 1750, ad- 
joins the survey of Richard Stephenson and William Davis, August 

* The first deed on record iu the valley of Virginia is from Pennington to a man named Beeler.— 
Editor, 



68 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

20, 1750, and is also referred to in surveys of Maj. Lawrence Wash- 
ington, August 21 and 23, 1750. 

Charles Polk, supposed to have resided in the vicinity of Williams- 
port in Maryland, had land under cultivation in 1748. George Wash- 
ington and G. W. Fairfax stopped with him March 20, 1748. 

Hugh Rankon, chain man in survey of land on Bullskin for Maj. 
Lawrence Washington, August 26, 1750. 

Patrick Rice, a tract of land surveyed for on north side of Long 
Marsh, October 23, 1750. He served as marker on the line. 

Capt. Thomas Rutherford had settled upon lands on the Bullskin, 
adjoining surveys of Maj. Lawrence Washington, August 24 and 25, 
1750. 

Ruben Rutherford served as chain carrier in survey of lands on 
Shenandoah for Edward Musgrove, August 16, 1750. 

James Rutlidge, horse jockey, had taken up land on South Branch, 
about seventy miles above its mouth. George Washington and G. W. 
Fairfax stopped with him over night, March 28, 1748. 

Stephen Sebastian, chain man in survey of land for Isabella Jump 
on Long Marsh, October 19, 1750. 

John Sheely, chain carrier in survey of land for Hannah Southerd, 
October 29, 1750, and chain man in survey of land for Robert Fox 
on the same day. 

Walter Sherley had lands on the Bullskin adjoining lands of Maj. 
Lawrence Washington, August 24 and 25, 1750. His line mention in 
this survey. 

George Smith, chain carrier in survey of land for Thomas Lofton, 
on Long Marsh, October 17, 1750. He also owned land, as his line is 
referred to in survey of John Cozins, October 18, 1750, and in whose 
survey he was marker. A tract surveyed for himself October 18, 
1750, on Long Marsh. 

Hannah Southerd a tract of land surveyed for on Long Marsh, 
October 29, 1750. Her lands adjoined those of Robert Ashby and 
Widow Jump. 

Stephen Southerd, chain carrier in survey of land for Robert Ash- 
by on Long Marsh, October 27, 1750, and marker in survey for Han- 
nah Southerd, October 29, 1750. 

Richard Stephenson, a tract of land surveyed for him and William 
Davis on the north branch of Bullskin, August 20, 1750. His land 
adjoined that of Maj. Lawrence Washington. 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 69 

Eichard Taylor, chain man in survey on Long Marsh for Maj. L. 
Washington, March ll and 15, 1748. March 29, 1748, chain carrier 
in survey of land for Michael Stump, on south branch. 

Robert Taylor, chain carrier in survey of land for George W. 
Fairfax, on Long Marsh, March 15 and 16, 1748, of 3,023 acres. 

Lewis Thomas, chain man in survey of land on Bullskin for 
Richard Stephenson and William Davis, August 20, 1750. And again 
chain carrier in survey for Maj. Lewis Washington, August 21 and 22, 
1750. 

Nathaniel Thomas had taken up lands on the Bullskin, adjoining 
lands of Maj. Lewis AVashington on Bullskin, August 24 and 25, 
1750. His lines referred to in survey. 

Owen Thomas, marker in survey of land for G. Smith on Long 
Marsh, October 18, 1750. 

John Urton, chain carrier in survey of land for Isaac Pennington 
on Long Marsh, October 23, 1750, and same day in survey for Patrick 
Rice. October 27, 1750, chain bearer in survey for Robert Ashby, and 
29th chain carrier in survey of land for Hannah Southerd, and same 
day in survey for Robert Fox. 

Alexander Vance, marker in survey for John Vance, for land on 
Long Marsh, October 19, 1750. 

John Vance, a tract of land on Long Marsh, surveyed October 19, 
1750. His land adjoins that of John Anderson and also that of Isaac 
Foster. 

Henry Vanmeter had taken up land on the south branch before 
1748, and resided there when George Washington was making these 
surveys, April 6, 1758. 

John Vestall had settled upon lands on the Shenandoah before 1750 
— his line is cited in survey for Mr. Edward Musgrove, August 16, 
1750, for whom he served as chain carrier. 

William Vestall* had settled upon lands on the Shenandoah prior 
to 1750. His line is referred to in survey of land for Edward Mus- 
grove, August 16, 1750. 

Samuel Waker [Walker] resided upon patented land on the Bull- 
skin; his line is referred to in survey for Maj. Lawrence Washington, 
August 21 and 24, 1750. Was this the person whose name has been 
given to a creek in Augusta County? 

Maj. Lawrence Washington, a tract of land surveyed for on the 

* On Vestall's land on the river, six or eiglit miles from Charlestowu, was erected the first iron 
works west of the Blue Ridge, in 1742. The ruins of the " Old Bloomery" are still to be seen.— Editor. 



70 HISTORy OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH T ALLEY. 

Bullskin, August 21 to 23. These lands adjoining lands of Mr. 
Worthington, Mr. Davis and Gershom Keys, August 24 and 25 ; a 
farther survey for on the Bullskin, which adjoined Robert Worthing- 
ton's patent — and the lands of Henry Bradshaw, August 26, 1750, 
surveyed for the vacancy between Worthington's lines near Smith's 
Glade. 

William Wiggons, marker in survey of land for Thomas Wiggons, 
April 24, 1750, and same day served as chain bearer in survey of 
land for Isaac Dawson. 

Jeremiah Wood, chain carrier in survey of land for John Madden 
on Long Marsh, October 24, 1750. The same day had a survey of a 
tract for himself adjoining Carter's line, and also Samuel Isaac's. 

Robert Worthington resided on patented lands on the Bullskin. 
His land adjoined and is referred to in survey for Maj. Lawrence 
Washington, August 21 to 23, 1750. He was marker in this survey 
for L. Washington, August 26, 1750. Served as chain carrier in sur- 
vey of land for Capt. Marquis Calmes, November 3, 1750. 



CHAPTER V. 

ORGANIZATION OF FREDERICK COUNTY. 

Appointment of Officers — First CoupwT in 1743— Jail, Pillory, Stocks, 
AND Whipping Post— Ordinaries Licensed — First Arrest — King's At- 
torney — A Primitive Minister— List of Prices for Tavern Keep- 
ers — Severe Sentences — First Grand Jury and Presentments — Dun- 
can Ogullion— The First Deed— Some Early Land Transfers — Ves- 
tal's Iron Works— First County Levy— Injustice and Inhumanity- 
Arrival of Lord Fairfax— First Court House— List of Early Roads. 

FOR several years after the erection of Frederick County by act 
of the General Assembly in November, 1738, there was not suffi- 
cient population in all the vast section comprising at that time Sheur 
andoah, a portion of Page, Warren, Frederick, Clark, Berkeley, Jef- 
ferson and Morgan Counties, and all the territory due west of them, to 
justify the appointment of county officers and the setting in motion of 
the wheels of government for the valley district as a separate iustitu- 



FREDEKICK COUNTY. 71 

tion, but in 1743 settlements had so rapidly increased that the peti- 
tions of the leading men were granted. October 2, 174:3, "His Ex- 
cellency, William Gooch, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor and Commander- 
in-Chief of the forces of the Colony and Province of Virginia, by the 
grace of His Most Gracious Majesty, Our Sovereign Lord, George IL, 
King, Defender of the Faith, &c.," issued commissions as justices of 
the peace to "our trusty and well-beloved" Morgan Morgan, Benja- 
min Borden, Thomas Chester, David Vance, Andrew Campbell, Mar- 
quis Calmes, Thomas Rutherford, Lewis Neil, William McMachen, 
Meredith Helms, George Hoge, John White, and Thomas Little, 
gentlemen, accompanied by a dedimus for the administering of the 
oath of office to the appointees. On November 11, 1743, the gentlemen 
named having been notified of their appointment met for the purpose 
of organizing a court, but just where they met is not now definitely 
known, but it is supposed that it was at the house of James Wood, 
just west of the western limits of the now central portion of Winches- 
ter, for Wood's land at that time took in a portion of the spot whereon 
now stands the town named, running, in fact, to the west line of 
Cameron Street. Having met, Morgan Morgan and David Vance ad- 
ministered the oath to the others named in the commission, who hav- 
ing taken their seats as justices for Frederick County, appointed 
James Wood clerk of the court and Thomas Rutherford high sheriff. 
George Home was appointed surveyor. At this first court appeared 
James Porteus, John Steerman, George Johnston and John Newport, 
who desired the privilege of being booked as attorneys, and who upon 
taking the oath as such, were granted the use of the court liouse to 
attend to the legal wants of prospective clients. 

The next business of the court was to admit to probate the will of 
Bryant McNamee, deceased. Letters of administration were granted 
to Elizabeth Seamon, on the estate of her husband, Jonathan Sea- 
mon, deceased; Morgan Morgan, gent., John Smith, John Hampton 
and Robert Worthington were appointed to appraise the money value 
of Seamon' s estate. The clerk was ordered to provide record books 
and be paid at the laying of the next levy. Also, that the clerk agree 
with some person to fetcli the law books from the house of Mr. Parks, 
for the use of the justices; and that the constables and overseers then 
serving as officers of Orange County within the limits of Frederick 
County, be retained until the next court. 

It was "ordered that the Sheriff build a twelve foot square log 



72 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

house, logg'd above and below, to secure his prisoners, he agreeing to 
be satisfied with what shall be allowed him for such building by two 
of the court, and he not to be responsible for escapes." 

At the next court held December 9, same year, present Morgan 
Morgan, David Yance, William McMachen, and George_Hoge, a peti- 
tion for a road was made by John Wilcox and others, to run "from John 
Funk's mill to Chester's ferry and from thence to where the road takes 
out of Chester's road to Manases' Run." Ordered that Thomas 
Chester, gent., John Wilcox and Jacob Funk, view, mark and lay ofE 
the said road, and make return of their proceedings at next court. 

James Porteus was empowered to act as King's attorney until the 
pleasure of the governor could be known. Marquis Calmes and Will- 
iam McMachen were ordered to agree with workmen for erecting a 
pillory, stocks and whipping-post, and make a return of their proceed- 
ings at the next court. John Kersey was permitted to open a ferry 
at his place on the Sherrandoe River. Thomas Chester having been 
appointed coroner by Gov. Gooch, took the oath of office. A road was 
ordered to be laid out from John Frost's mill to several plantations. 

The first mention of a tavern in this section occurs at this second 
court, when Patrick Ryley petitions for a license to keep an "ordinary," 
which was granted to that evidently Hibernian gentleman, after pay- 
ment of the governor's fees and obtaining John Smith as his bonds- 
man, presumably for the good conduct of the proprietor of the hostelry. 
Several others obtained licenses for "ordinaries" at the same time, 
among whom were Thomas Hart and Lewis Neill. And even Capt. 
Andrew Campbell and Morgan Morgan, gent., did not disdain to 
endeavor to turn an honest penny by affording accommodations to the 
traveling public, and in dispensing liquid aliment to their thirsty 
neighbors and the tired wayfarer, as those two primitive worthies also 
obtained licenses from themselves and associates to keep ordinaries. 
At that early day when there were in this valley, at least, literally no 
towns nor even villages, it was necessary for almost every householder 
to keep some sort of accommodations for the public, and as it would 
have been a burden upon many of the settlers to have kept a traveler 
without cost, he would have to charge, but he could not do that with- 
out making himself amenable to the law; so, many of them took out 
licenses which permitted them to sell liquors as well as to provide food 
and lodging. 

John Upton was sworn in as a constable, and Robert Worthington 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 73 

and George Thurston w^ere continued in office, they having been con- 
stables under the Orange County organization, Stephen Hotseubell 
was appointed constable for Capt. John Hite's precinct ; Thomas Gray 
for Capt. Denton's; Thomas Babb between Capt. Hite's and Capt. 
Lewis', and George Bounds for Capt. Chester's. William Flintham was 
sworn in as a deputy sheriff. The first man arrested and held in durance 
vile, after the organization, was James Brumiadgeham, charged with 
stealing two bells from George Wright, biit upon examination the 
prisoner was found not guilty and released. 

On Friday, January 13, the ensuing month, at a meeting of the 
court, five more lawyers placed themselves on the roll of attorneys for 
Frederick County, they being William Russell, John Quin, Gabriel 
Jones, AVilliam Jolliffe and Michael Ryan. Benjamin and Robert 
Rutherford were sworn in as deputy sheriffs. William Hoge obtained 
license to keep an ordinary. John Dooues took out a peddler's license, 
and it is supposed that he did a thriving trade, as there were as yet 
no store or other places where goods could be bought in the entire 
valley of Virginia. Most of the supplies of the settlers were obtained 
from Fredericksburg, Alexandria and Pennsylvania. The county sur- 
veyor, G. Home or Hume, was ordered to run the dividing line between 
Frederick ai^ i Augusta. A road was ordered to be laid out from 
Hampton's mill to the Great Cape Capon, and another from Howell's 
Ford to Ashby's Bent Gap. John Julian, George Bounds, James 
Burne and Gershom Woodall, were made constables. Among the 
proceedings of this third court, in a suit for debt against James Finla, 
occurs a name for the first time mentioned in the records of this sec- 
tion. Thomas McGijer sues James Finla for a sum of money. The 
old scribe or clerk first writes it as just given ; he afterward spells it 
McGuier, and then McOiiire, as at present. 

The next court was held February 11, 1743-4.* Gabriel Jones, 
one of the attorneys admitted at a previous session of the court, was 
recommended by the justices to the governor as a suitable person for 
King's attorney. First case of assault and battery on record: Dooues 
vs. Samuel Isaacs. 

March 9, 1743-4, Henry Muuday was admitted to the practice of 
law, he making the tenth of that profession to be allowed the privilege 
at the bar of Frederick. Two servants (white), one in the employ of 

* The Old Style, or Julian system, of chrooology was still in use, although it was gradually dying out. 
It was abolished by the King and Parliament in 1752. The Old Style counted the year up to March 21 ; 
hence writers of tlie time were in the hal:it of putting it as above (17-13-1) to prevent misunderstanding. 



74 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Marquis Calmes, named Richard Mapper, and the other employed by 
Andrew Campbell, and named Thomas Drummond, absented them- 
selves from their usual work for twenty-one days. They were arrest- 
ed, brought before the court and sentenced to serve nine months longer 
than the time for which they were indentured. A road was laid off 
from John Shepard's to the head of the Bullskin, and another was laid 
out from Robinson's Gap to Vestal's Gap. 

The first mention of a minister of religion in the records occurs at 
this court where two negroes, a boy named Jacob, and a girl named 
Micey, are adjudged to be fifteen years of age toward paying off the 
levy. The negroes are stated to be the property of Rev. William 
Williams. To what denomination this pioneer worker in the vineyard 
of the Lord belonged is not stated, and where his church, chapel Oi 
meeting house was located is also in the forgotten past. 

As a matter of interest and for preservation, and, as showing the 
manners and customs of our forefathers, the following schedule of 
prices is copied entire from the proceedings of the March court: 

Prices for Ordinary-Keepers. — Pursuant to law the following rates 
and prices are set and allowed by this court upon liquors, etc., that 
ordinary-keepers in this county shall entertain and sell at, to-wit: 

£ s. (1. 

Barbadoes Rum, per gallon 6 

Rye Brandy 5 

Rum Puiicla or Fiz, the quart, with 3 gills and white 

sugar 1 

Rye Brandy Punch or Fiz, the quart, with 3 gills and 

brown sugar . . 9 

Rum Punch or Fiz, the pint, with 1^ gills and white 

sugar 6 

Rye Brandy Punch or Fiz, the pint, with U gills and 

brown sugar . . 4| 

Beer, per quart 4 

Cider, per quart . . 4 

Madeira Wine, per quart 2 

Claret, per quart bottle 4 

French Brandy, per gallon 16 

French Brandy Punch, per quart 3 6 

Hot Diet 6 

Cold Diet 4 

Lodging, with clean sheets 3 

Stableage, with fodder or hay per night 4 

Pasturage . . 4 

Indian Corn, per gallon .. 4 

Oats 4 

Ordered, that the several ordinary-keepers in this county sell and 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 75 

retail liquors at the above rates, and that they presume not to sell at 
any other rates, and that if any person do not pay immediately for 
what he has that he pay for the same at the fall in tobacco at 10 shil- 
lings per cwt. 

At the session of the court next day, March 10, it was ordered 
that the clerk. Col. James Wood, write to Mr. Robert Jackson, mer- 
chant, Fredericksburg, to procure from England sets of standard 
weights and measures for the use of the colony. 

April 14, 1744, a white servant named John Lightfoot, who ab- 
sented himself from his master's service three months, was sentenced 
by the justices to serve four years and seven months additional after 
his indentured term should expire, and to pay all costs. 

{ Michael Ryan, one of the ten attorneys lately admitted to practice, 
was brought before the court and sentenced to two months silence at 
the bar of Frederick County for being drunk,' which shows that in- 
temperance, even among the dignified legal fraternity, is not such an 
excessively modern invention as might be supposed. A " press " was 
ordered to be made to hold the records of the county. 

May 11, 1744, the first grand jury was impaneled, consisting of 
John Hardin, foreman, Robert Allan, George Hobson, James Vance, 
John Willcocks, Peter Woolf, Isaac Pennington, David Logan, Robert 
Worth, Joshua Hedges, Robert Willson, Samuel Morris, Hugh Par- 
rell, James Hoge, Jacob Niswanger, Charles McDowell, Morgan Bry- 
ant and Colvert Anderson. 

A number of presentments were made against various violators of 
the law, among which were bills against Robert Craft, James Findlav, 
Samuel Shinn and Cutbud Harrison, for selling liquor Avithout a 
license, and one against John Graham, for perjury. And even old 
Noah Hampton, who had a mill over toward the Blue Ridge, some- 
where, was presented by one of his irate customers for taking a 
larger amount of toll from the grain intrusted to him for grinding, 
than the law allowed. A man named James Burne, a constable, was 
presented for swearing and being a disturber of the peace, instead of 
being a conservator thereof, as he should have been, but the oflicers 
of the law seem to have been as frequent violators of it, as the com- 
mon herd. 

Jonathan Curtis was presented on information laid by Andrew 
Campbell, gent., one of his Majesty's justices of the peace, for 
breaking the Sabbath by plowing on Sunday, but Curtis got back on 



<(*) HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

to the old informer by laying information against Campbell for get- 
ting drunk and swearing two oaths. At a succeeding term of the 
court they mutually withdrew their charges, at least the cases were 
dismissed. 

And now, most fearful and scandalous of all those old cases is one 
in which an afterward noted man was principal: The dignified Col. 
James Wood, clerk of the court and founder of Winchester, was pre- 
sented for getting drunk and swearing two oaths! 

On May 12, same year as above, the following persons were ap- 
pointed to take a list of the tithables: Thomas Chester, David Vance, 
William McMachen, Andrew Campbell, Morgan Morgan, Lewis Neill, 
Marquis Calmes, Meredith Helms, John Lindsay and Jacob Hite. 

June 8, Duncan Ogullion was granted a license to keep an ordi- 
nary. Ogullion is thought to have lived either upon or near the spot 
whereon now stands Winchester, and if so he has the honor of having 
kept the first taven in that ancient town. He also, was awarded the 
contract for building the gaol by Sheriff Rutherford, as will be seen. 
Ogullion also, had the misfortune a year or two after building his 
primitive Bastile, of being himself incarcerated therein for debt. A 
bridle road was ordered to be laid out " from Scott's mill on the Shan- 
ando River to the court house of this county." 

The first mention of any religious edifice in Frederick County up 
to the session of the court June 8, 1744, occurred in reference to lay- 
ing out a road, which stipulates that it be run "from the chapel to 
Jay's Ferry." Where this chapel stood is not stated, but it was possi- 
bly on the spot where now stands the Mill Creek Episcopal Church, 
or it may have been the old Nor borne Church, the picturesque ruins 
of which may be seen on the lands of Col. H. B, Davenport, near 
Charlestown. 

The annexed case, copied from the minutes of the court held July 
16, 1744, is given to show the extreme injustice of those ancient 
times. A servant named Edmond Welsh having absented himself 
from the service of his master six days was brought before the court 
and sentenced to serve the same master seven months and twenty-three 
days additional to his term of indenture and pa?/ all costs of the suit. 
These indentured servants were white persons who, through debt, 
petty violations of the law, poverty and other misfortunes, placed them- 
selves, or were placed by the courts, at the mercy of any one who 
vfov^ 1 purchase their time. Once indentured, however, it was ex- 








a.vv 



FllEDEKICK COUNTY. ** "* ** " 79 

tremely difl&cult for the unfortunates to gain release. Petty charges 
were brought against them, by means of which, as in the above case, 
the merciless master was enabled to keep them for years in a state of 
absolute slavery, and not infrequently were they retained for the en- 
tire term of their natural lives. Truly our old colonial ancestors 
were a set of unmitigated tyrants. But the day of redemption was 
fast approaching, for there was a boy at that time twelve years old 
living upon a farm in Eastern Virginia who was to rise up and lead 
the armies of his countrymen to victory over kings and the ways of 
kings. 

The first deed placed upon the records of Frederick County was 
one from Abraham Penington to Christopher Beeler, of 500 acres of 
land "on the west side of the Shenandoe River, a portion of a grant 
obtained by Penington in 1734." Beeler paid £90 current money of 
Virginia for his farm. 

Benjamin Borden, Sr., sold to his son Benjamin a tract of land, a 
portion of a grant obtained in 1734 by Borden, Andrew Hampton and 
David Griffith. The tract was called " Bullskin" and was located "on 
the west side of the Sheando River, commencing at a sycamore tree 
on the Bullskin Run." Borden, Jr., paid for his land £50. 

On January 7, 1743-4 (O. S.), Richard Beeson, Sr., transferred 
to Richard Beeson, Jr., for £20 " one certain piece, parcel or tract of 
land on the west side of Opeckan Creek, and on a branch of the said 
creek called Tuscarora," being a portion of a tract obtained in 1735 
by George Robinson and John Petite and sold to Richard Beeson, Sr., 
in 1737. Beeson, Sr., also conveyed to his sons Benjamin and Ed- 
ward tracts of land for £20 each; also a tract to Mordecai Menden- 
hall, in the same locality, on the Tuscarora. Jost Hite about this time 
sold a tract of 100 acres to Richard Stinson, being a portion of the 
grant Hite bought from Vanmeter. 

January 11, 1743-4, Morgan Bryan transferred 1,020 acres of land 
on the head of Tully's branch, near the mountains, to Joshua Hedges. 
This is the original Hedges of the present county of Berkeley, and 
after whom the town of Hedgesville was named. This deed was wit- 
nessed by Andrew Campbell, Job Curtis and Jonas Hedges. January 
31 John Littler, " of the Opeckon, sold body of land on York- 
shireman's branch" to Thomas Rees; Littler also sold body of Innd 
to Henry Bowen at the head of Yorkshireman's branch. Morgan 
Bryan sold parcel of land to Roger Turner on Tully's branch. On 



80 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

the 1st of March Charles Baker sokl to Samuel Earle " 25 acres of 
land, more or less, on the Cruked run, bein^ part of a grant to Jost 
Hite, who sold to John Branson, who sold to Baker." 

March 9, 1743-4, Thomas Rutherford, high sheriff of Frederick 
County, who located in that portion of the territory now Jefferson 
County, W. Va., sold to Marquis Calmes, one of the justices, a large 
tract of land, upon a portion of which still reside some of the 
descendants of Calmes. John Mills, of Prince Georges County, Md., 
sold several tracts of land on Mill branch of the Opequon. They 
were transferred to his sons, and to Jonathan Harrold, William Chen- 
oweth and John Beals. 

Jost Hite sold in February 200 acres of land to Charles Barnes, 
and in March Hite sold 360 acres to Joseph Colvin. John Frost sold 
300 acres to John Milburn in September. 

About this time, the spring of 1744, a number of settlers came in 
who purchased from Alexander Ross. Among those coming in at 
this time were George Williams, John Perkins, Jacob Funk, William 
Tidwell, Charles Barnes, the Millses from Maryland, John Hays, 
George Hobson, of Hobson's Marsh, Thomas Colston. Andrew Hamp- 
ton, of Brunswick County, who had obtained a grant from Gov. 
Gooch, sold several tracts. Also came David Chancey, James Por- 
teus, Enoch Anderson, Patrick Gelaspie, G. Jones, G. Johnstone, 
Marmad Stanfield, John Richard, Benjamin Fry, Thomas and Robert 
Wilson, Samuel Fulton, James and Robert Davis, William Russell, 
Joseph Helms and others. 

f Richard Morgan who, as has been elsewhere stated, had obtained 
a large grant of land lying along and adjacent to the Potomac River, 
sold 210 acres for 110 pounds sterling to Van Swearengen, near 
where now stands Shepherdstown. It was located along the afterward 
famous Morgan Spring branch, and the price paid per acre (about 
^2.50) was considered very large, when splendid land in some locali- 
ties could be bought for twenty-five and fifty cents per acre. Josiah 
Ballenger, James Wright, Robert Worth, J. Denton, Giles Chapman, 
Ulrich Ruble, Lewis Stephens, Hugh Neill, Charles Bucks, AV. 
Cocks, Hugh Parker and William Trent acquired land at this time. 
Dunken Ogullion and Patrick Dougherty, two thrifty and adventurous 
sons of the Emerald Isle, acquired land, and settled near where Win- 
chester now stands, presumably upon a portion of the tract of James 
Wood, clerk of the court. 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 81 

At this time, 1744, is to be found recorded in the first Deed Book, 
a contract that doubtless furnishes the first information in reg^ard to 
the manufacture of iron in the State of Virginia. The contract was 
entered into May 10, 1742, but was only recorded two years later. It 
reads: That Thomas Mayberry agreed to erect a " blooraery for mak- 
ing bar iron on the plantation of William Vestal, lying upon Shuu- 
nandore" for William Vestal, John Fraden, Richard Stephenson and 
Daniel Burnett. This old furnace was undoubtedly one of the first 
erected in the entire southern country. 

In 1745 a number of new names appear in the old, but well-pre- 
served Deed Book, amoug which are George HoUingsworth, David 
Black, John Quin, Francis Lilburn, John Hardin, Andrew Cook, 
Christopher Nation, William Grant, John Cheadle, David Gilkey, 
Jacob Niswaiiger, Evan Thomas, John Thomson and William Stroop. 
These purchased from those who had grants: William Hoge, Israel 
Friend, Jost Hite, Morgan Morgan and others. Robert Worthington 
sold to William McKay 435 acres on the Bullskin, in November, 1746, 
and the same year Thomas and John Branson came into the possession 
of 600 acres of land by the death of their father, Thomas Branson, in 
West Jersey. John Vestal bought of Jost Hite 120 acres of land on 
the Shenandoah River and Cat Tail Run, in 1747. In this same year 
Nathaniel Cartmell bought of Nathaniel Thomas 200 acres of land at 
the head of the south branch of the Opequon. Descendants of this 
old pioneer, Nathaniel Cartmell, are still well known throughout the 
valley, and one of them, T. K. Cartmell, Esq., has in his keeping the 
old records from which these facts are gleaned, he being at present 
(1889) clerk of the court. 

November 3, 1747, Maj. Lawrence Washington bought of Samuel 
Walker "100 acres of land on the west side of Shunnundore River, be- 
ing a portion of the original grant obtained by Jost Hite." The fol- 
lowing year Washington bought 700 acres of Robert Worthington, 320 
from Andrew Pitts, and 311 from Jost Hite. These tracts were the 
foundation of the Washington estate in this valley, some of the orig- 
inal being still in the possession of the descendants of the early 
owners. The country by this time had begun to assume a thrifty 
appearance. Extensive farms were being tilled in every direction, 
mills were being erected, and improvements of all kinds could be 
noticed going on. For this early period, 1750, the foregoing names 
will have to suffice, as it would be almost impossible to give the names 



82 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of all the settlers who then came in. Those given embrace all the 
very early noted families, and many of their descendants are yet liv- 
ing on the old homesteads. 

The son of Erin, Duncan Ogullion, having finished the jail for the 
sheriff, Thomas Rutherford, he was paid by order of the justices the 
sum of £80 for the job, September 8, 1748. The committee to exam- 
ine the structure and decide upon the price to be paid were James 
Wood, George Johnston, Lewis Neill and William McMachen. 

The first levy for Frederick County was 75,697 pounds of tobacco, 
payable in that commodity or the current market price thereof in 
money. 

November 13, 1751, George Ross transferred about ten acres of 
land to Isaac Hollingsworth, Evan Thomas, Jr., and Evan Rogers, for 
building a Quaker meeting-house. 

As heretofore stated Thomas Rutherford was the first sheriff of 
the county; his bondsmen in the sum of £1,000 were Meredith Helms, 
John Hardin,. Thomas Ashby, Sr., James Seeburn, Robert Ashby, 
Thomas Ashby, Jr., Peter Woolf and Robert Worthiugton. The 
second sheriff was Thomas Chester, 1745; tliird, Andrew Campbell, 
1747; fourth, Jacob Hite, 1749; fifth, Lewis Neill, 1751; sixth, 
Meredith Helms, 1753. Col. James Wood continued to be clerk for 
many years. 

Before leaving the subject of the old justices' courts a return to the 
records of 1744 may not be uninteresting, as showing still further the 
manners, customs and ideas of justice entertained by those old pioneers 
of our civilization. It must be remembered that these occurrences 
were at a time when man had not yet grasped the eternal truths, to 
any appreciable extent, afterward enunciated in the declaration of our 
revolutionary sires, that all men are created equal. These old ex- 
pounders of the primitive laws never dreamed of any injustice in their 
sentences: they simply carried out the enactments of the General As- 
sembly, a body of law-makers which could pass an act so late as 1748, 
making it " felony without benefit of clergy " for being convicted of 
hog-stealing the third time. It was not enough to hang the poor cul- 
prit, but they must send him straight to hades. 

To take the more noted incidents chronologically, the following 
county levy, laid October 12, 1744, is here given: 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 83 

Tobacco, 
£ s. d. lbs. 

To James Wood, clerk, for extra services 1,248 

To James Wood, as per account 2,015 

To James Wood, for four record books 5 4 or 1,664 

To James Wood, for bringing up two record books 

and one law book from Williamsburg 8 or 128 

To James Wood, for six Webb's Justices for the 

use of the county 3 5 or 1,040 

To Mr. Secretary Nelson 670 

To James Wood, for use of court-house 4 or 1,280 

To Thomas Rutherford, for extra services 1,248 

To Thomas Rutherford, as per account 65 7 8^- or 20,923 

To Isaac Parkins, for 526 feet of plank for use of 

courthouse 19 8J or 315 

To Gabriel Jones, as king's attorney 2.000 

To William McMachen, for sundry services 1 or 320 

To John Bruce, for building the stocks, pillory, 

etc 5 15 or 1,840 

To John Harrow, for iron work for the stocks, 

pillory, etc 1 

To James Porteus, for public services 

To Andrew Campbell, gent., for payment of three 

men for going to South Branch concerning 

Indians 3 

To Isaac Parkins, as per account 2 2 

To James O'Neal .- 3 15 

To John Jones, constable 

To James Wood, for standard weights and meas- 
ures 25 

To Q. Home, for running dividing line 66 18 

To deposition left in sheriflE's hands 9 4 



To sheriff, for collecting at 6 per cent 

By 1,283 tithables at 59 lbs. tobacco per poll 

On May 7, 1745, the grand jury made the following presentments: 
Against Jonathan Curtis for "writing and publishing several things 
against the church of England." The information was laid by An- 
drew Campbell, the same who had previously informed upon Curtis 
for Sabbath breaking, and who had evidently retaliated upon Camp- 
bell by having him (Campbell) presented for being drunk and swear- 
ing. Campbell is now returning the retaliation. 

Rev. William Williams was fined £4 and costs for " joyning in the 
holy bonds of matrimony several persons, he being no orthodox min- 
ister." He was also fined twenty-six shillings for, as the record states, 






or 320 
1,000 



5 



or 960 

or 678| 
or 1,200 
211 



6 


or 5,440 
or 24,416 
or 2,496 




71,412f 
4,285 




75,697 
75,697 







84 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

" behaving indeciently before the court." To what denomination the 
reverend gentleman belonged is not stated, but he was, possibly, a 
Presbyterian and preached at the Opequon church, where many Scotch - 
Irish settlers had located. It is altogether probable that when the 
court informed him of their verdict, Mr. Williams became justly out- 
raged at the injustice of the decision and gave them a piece of his 
mind in primitive English, for which the justices mulcted him for an 
additional sum. 

June 7, 1745, James Porteus, the first attorney sworn in at the 
first court, and John Quin, another attorney, seem to have gotten into 
a wrangle over some knotty law point and lost their tempers ; so the 
court fined them each five shillings for " indeciently behaving and 
swearing before the court." Jacob Christman, son-in-law of Jost 
Hite, from whom came the name of Christman's spring, south of Ste- 
phens City, was fined 2,000 pounds of tobacco for keeping a tippling 
house and retailing liquors without a license. 

The first application for naturalization papers was made by Peter 
Mauk, a native of Germany, who came into court and took the oaths 
appointed by acts of Parliament to be taken instead of the oaths of al- 
legiance and supremacy and the abjuration oath and subscribed the 
test, and received his papers. This old patriot was the progenitor of 
the Mauks of Page County, many of whose descendants are still in 
the section where he settled. Not long after this first application a 
number of other German Protestants from across the Blue Ridge 
came in and made settlements, among whom were John Frederick 
Vanpage Helm, John George Dellenor, Philip Glass, Jacob Peck, 
Augustine and Valentine Windle, Christopher Windle, Nathaniel 
Hunter, John Harman, Henry Miller, George Lough Miller and 
Philip and Michael Boucher. 

The first charge of murder was brought against Sarah Medcalf, 
in September, 1745. Poison was alleged to have been used by the 
woman against her husband, but after an examination she was dis- 
charged, there not being sufiicient evidence to indict her. December 
6, 1745, Martha Grayham was arrested, brought before the justices, 
and charged with setting fire to the house of Andrew Campbell, biit 
upon examination she was found not guilty, yet the learned judges, 
on general principles, it is presumable, ordered that the sheriff take 
her and at the common whipping-post administer to her " twenty-five 
lashes on her bare back well laid on.'* Ann Cunningham has the 



FKEDERICK COUNTY. 85 

honor of making the first application for divorce, or rather, "separate 
maintenance and alimony " from her husband, James Cunningham, 
for cruel treatment, and she gained her suit, too. 

In May, 1747, John Hite's servant man, Henry Highland, absent- , 
ed himself about one month, for which offense he was sentenced by 
the court to serve his master three years, one month and fourteen days. 
He was also sentenced to serve two months more for abusinof a horse. 
And here is a queer piece of colonial justice: / April, 8, 1748, a serv- 
ant of Thomas Rutherford, who had been the first sheriff in 1743, was 
brought before the justices for striking his overseer, whereupon the 
man was sentenced to serve his master one year longer than the time 
for which he was indentured. Another servant, Aaron Price, for as- 
saulting Andrew Vance, was fined 200 pounds (^1,000), and remain 
in custody, that is, be hired out, till the fine was paid. Bathany 
Haines was fined the same sum for being a person of ill-fame. These 
two persons probably remained in servitude the balance of their lives, 
for $1,000 at that day Avas an enormous sum to a poor man. 

No feeling of humanity seems to have had a place in the hearts of 
those old colonial justices, for a poor girl who would slip from the 
path of virtue, led off by some rascally libertine, and bring forth the 
fruit of her sin, would be sentenced to receive " twenty-five lashes on 
the bare back well laid on at the common whipping-post," condemned 
to serve some master two years, and her child bound for life to who- 
soever would take it. It seems almost impossible that such things 
could be, only about a century ago. 

Our old Hibernian friend, Duncan Ogullion, the first jail builder, 
seems to have been a famous roysterer, for he and Neill Ogullion, 
Samuel Merryfield and Edward Nowland had a high time on the night 
of May 6, 1747, in Frederick Town, as it was called, and as will be 
shown further along. Andrew Campbell, who appears to have been the 
primitive Hawkshaw, for his name figures in a number of cases where- 
in he laid the information, had the above quartet arrested for "raising 
a riot," and the conservators of the peace bound them over for a year 
and a day. The first case of vagrancy is recorded about this time. 
Eiichard Ellwood was brought before the court on August 4, charged 
with being a " vagrant, dissolute, idle fellow," and was sentenced to 
receive twenty-fire lashes on his bare back, after which he was hand- 
ed over to a constable, who passed him to another, and so on till they 
run him out of the countv. 



8j6 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

An important arrival is recorded in the minutes of a court held in 
1749, one that had a marked influence on public affairs, and is as 
follows : 

"November 17, 1749. — The Right Honorable Thomas Lord Fair- 
fax, Baron of Cameron in that part of Great Britain called Scotland, 
and proprietor of the Northern Neck, produced a special commission 
to be one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the county from 
under the hand of the Honorable Thomas Lee, Esquire, President and 
Commander in Chief of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, and 
the seal of this colony, took the oaths appointed by act of Parliament 
to be taken instead of the oaths of allegiance and supremacy and the 
oath of abjuration, and having subscribed the test, was sworn a Justice 
of the Peace and of the county court in chancery. 

" Lord Fairfax, producing a commission, was sworn County Lieu- 
tenant. 

" George William Fairfax, Esquire, at tlie same time was sworn 
to his commission of colonel of the militia of the county." 

Considerable interest having for many years been manifested as 
to the exact location of the first court house and prison of Frederick 
County, the writer has made thorough researches of the ancient rec- 
ords, and is gratified to state that he has traced the matter to a con- 
clusion that admits of no doubt. The minutes of the first justices'^ 
meeting record the fact that "they met," — but where? Now, Col. 
James Wood, a prominent gentleman, a man of large landed interests, 
was appointed clerk of the court. He, presumably, had one of the 
most commodious residences in all these parts, although there were a 
number of other wealthy persons located throughout the county. Is 
it not natural and altoofether in accordance with the course of matters 
til at the justices should meet in his house, there being no court house 
tht/'n built in the county? Col. AVood's house Avas just beyond the west- 
ern limits of the present Winchester, which fact is well known. And 
to confirm the idea that the courts were held at his house an item 
appears in the first county levy, where he is awarded the sum of "four 
})ounds for the use of the court house." The justices continued to 
meet at the same place for some time, and it is supposed from certain 
proceedings that about 1745 they rented a building temporarily till a 
court house could be built, at or near where the present coiirt house 
stands. Some time during the year 1745 a contract was entered into 
with John Hardin for building a court house, for at the levy laid 
on December 3, of that year, appears this item : 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 87 

Tobacco, 
lbs. 

To John Hardin, for building the court house and to lay in the 

sheriff's hands till the work is completed 11,920 

Then follow these: 

£ s. a. 
November 4, 1746.— To Thomas Fossett, for furnishing one 

dozen chairs 1 7 

To Marquis Calmes, for iron nails 1 3 3 

December 2, 1746. — To be lodged in the collector's hands for 

procuring irons, plates and dogs for the chimnej' in the 

courthouse 3 

November 4, 1747. — To Andrew Campbell, for table 3 

To be appropriated for flooring the court house and making a 

sheriff's box 8 

John Hardin, the contractor, March 3, 1748, acknowledged the re- 
ceipt of £100 in satisfaction for the joiners and carpenters work on 
the court house. The work must have progressed slowly, for in the 
spring of 1749 there appears an order of the justices for laying a floor 
in the court house ; and one ordering the contractor to finish his work 
without delay. In August, 1750, however, the building was so far 
completed that the justices ordered that Jacob Hite and John Hardin 
agree with James Dunbar or any other workman, to fix benches round 
the court house and in the jury rooms; also to make two tables for 
the jury rooms, and to fix steps at the court house door, and to make 
report of the proceedings to next court. Yet there must have been a 
still further delay, for the next year, August 21, 1751, appears an 
order in the proceedings of the justices as follows: "John Hardin is 
■ordered to finish the court house by next court." This last shot at 
the contractor no doubt had the desired effect, for nothing more ap- 
pears in regard to the matter. That old temple of justice, built of 
stone, with one large chimney, stood for many years, fronting south, 
upon the spot where now stands the present edifice. Fronting as that 
building did upon the thoroughfare now known as Water Street, so 
called from the fact that it was nearest the town run, shows that Water 
Street was the principal street at that time. 

The first prison erected, the one ordered to be built by Thomas 
Rutherford, who sublet his contract to Duncan Ogullion, must have 
been a very temporary affair, for December 5, 1745, the justices or- 
dered "William McMachen and Lewis Neill to agree with workmen to 
build a square log house for a prison for this county." And in the 
same month 25,600 pounds of tobacco was appropriated for the purpose. 
An order was given for the prison to be plastered and white-washed. 



88 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

The work on the prison must have been in the hands of more prompt 
mechanics than those on the court house, for the next year, August 7, 
1746, Morgan Morgan and others were ordered to view the work on the 
prison, yet that may have been for the purpose of ascertaining the pro- 
gress made by the contractor, for as late as 1750 an order was passed to 
procure locks for the building. The first old log prison, however, was 
offered for sale October 4, 1748. 

As showing that there was a change in the location of the first 
seat of justice and the implements for executing the law, Daniel Craig 
was ordered to clear lots for the new buildings in 1745, and October 
7, 1746, James Dunbar was paid £2:17:6 for removing the pillory 
and stocks. December 2, 1746, Marquis Calmes, gent., was paid £5:5 
for erecting a "ducking stool according to the model of that of Fred- 
ericksburg." At the same time William IMcMachen, gent., was paid 
£2:10 for "digging a pit seven feet deep and six feet square in the 
clear, and walling the same with stone, for a ducking stool." This 
instrument was used more particularly for women whom the justices 
would condemn as " common scolds," and was supposed to have a par- 
ticularly soothing, cooling effect upon the hot temper and strained 
nerves of the irate housewife. 

The "Ducking Stool" was founded upon, and made obligatory by, 
the following act: 

"At a Grand Assembly held at James City the 23d of December,. 
1662, and in the 14th year of our Sovereign Lord King Charles II. 

''^An Act for the Punishment of Scandalous Persons. 

"Whereas, Many Babbling Women Slander and Scandalize their 
Neighbors, for which, their poor Husbands are often involved in 
chargeable and vexatious Suits, and cast in great Damages: Be it, 
therefore Enacted by the Authority aforesaid. That in Actions of 
slander, occasioned by the Wife, after judgment passed for the damages, 
the Woman shall be punished by Ducking; and if the Slander be 
so enormous as to be adjudged at greater Damages than Five Hundred 
pounds of Tobacco, then the Woman to suffer a Ducking for each 
Five Hundred pounds of Tobacco adjudged against the Husband, if 
he refuse to pay the Tobacco." 

Up to the date of the establishment by law of the town of Win- 
chester, which will be shown in the next chapter, settlements had in- 
creased and the population had spread so rapidly over the large sec- 
tion of country comprised in Frederick County that many roads were- 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 89 

laid out, the most important of which will be found in the following 

list, gleaned from the records in the clerk's office: 

From court house to Morgan Morgan's. 

From meeting house at the gap of the mountain above Hugh Paul's to Warm Springs. 

From court house to Littler's okl place. 

From Smith's to John Littler's. 

From Parkins' mill to Jones' plantation. 

From Sturman's Run to Johnson's mill. 

From John Milton's to John Sturman's. 

From Cunningham's chapel to the river. 

From Kite's mill to Chrisman's Spring. 

From coimty road to the chapel to McCoy's Spring. 

From Opequon to the court house. 

From Cedar Creek to McCoy's Run. 

From Spout Run to John Sturman's. 

From Opequon to Sherrando. 

From Gaddis' plantation to Littler's mill. 

From Kite's mill to Nation's Run. 

From Mill Creek to Littler's old place. 

From Ferry to the county road. 

From Stephen's mill to McCoy's chapel. 

From William Hugh's plantation to Jeremiah Smith's. 

From Simon Linders' to old Lloyd's. 

From Branson's mill to Gregory's Ford. 

From Cunningham's to Borden's Spring. 

From Capt. Rutherford's to Potomac. 

From Capt. Rutherford's to John McCormack's. 

From Howell's Ford to the top of the Ridge. 

From David Lloyd's to top of Blue Ridge at Vestal's Gap. 

From lower part of Patterson's Creek to the wagon road. 

Fropi mouth of Patterson's Creek to Job Pearsall's. 

From Watkin's Ferry to Falling Waters. 

From Kite's Spring to middle of swamp in Smith's Marsh. 

From Gap on Little Mountain to Kersey's Ferry. 

From Littler's old place to Opequon. 

From Stony Bridge to Parker's on North River of Cape Capon. 

From Richard Sturman's to Cunningham's chapel. 

From court house to Ballinger's plantation. 

From Funk's mill to Cedar Creek. 

From Funk's mill to Augusta line. 

From the town to Dr. Briscoe's. 

From bridge near Lindsey's to Cunningham's chapel. 

From Stover's mill to Gabriel Jones' plantation. 

From Frederick Town to mouth of the South Branch. 

From Long Marsh to Vestal's Iron Works. 

From William Frost's to John Frost's mill. 

From Hoop Petticoat Gap to Kite's mill. 

From Branson's mill to Hite's mill. 

From Ross' fence by the great road to Opequon. 

From Johnson's house to road to Fairfax County. 

From Caton's house to Jacob Hite's. 



^0 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

From Watkias' Ferry to Vestal's Gap. 

From John Ratchlies' to John Fossett's. 

From Stephens' mill to Mary Littler's. 

From Chester's to Branson's mill. 

From North River to Great Cape Capon. 

From Cunningham's chapel toNeill's Ford. 

From Cedar Creek to cross-roads at John Duckworth's. 

From John McCormack's to main road to town. 

On the river side from Long Marsh to Vestal's. 

From Sleepy Creek to Widow Paul's. 

From Morgan's chapel to Opequon. 

From Lloj^d's crossing river to top of ridge. 

From Burwell's mill to Fox Trap Point. 

From Kersey's to ferry road of Shenando. 

From river at Edge's Ford to Francis Carney's. 

From head of the Pond in Shenando to Wonnley's quarter. 

From bridge to head of Great Pond on Shenando. 

From Sturman's bridge to Burwell s mill. 

From Nation's Run to Capt. Hite's. 

From town to the Opequon. 

From the run by Nation's to Kersey's Ferr}\ 

From head of spring at Stribling's to Cunningham's chapel. 

From Mark Barman's mill to Isaac HoUingsworth's. 



CHAPTEE VI. 
WINCHESTEE AND WASHINGTON'S EAELY OPEEATIONS. 

Laying off Frederick Town— First Street— Prison Bounds— Establish- 
ment OF Winchester— Origin of the Name— Washington's Mission— 
His x\ncestry— French Encroachments — Battle of Great Meadows 
—Fort Necessity^ — Washington's Return to Winchester — Popula- 
tion of the Lower Valley-Indian Atrocities— John Harrow vs. G. 
Washington— Braddock's Defeat— Washington's Splendid IjEtter— 
Winchester in 1756— Building of Fort Loudon— History Repeated— 
Capt. Bullitt's Exploit — Capture of Fort Duquesne— Washington 
AS Representative from the Lower Valley — A Couple of Relics 
—The Small-Pox— Death of Clerk Wood. 

FEOM the fact that Winchester was established by law in 1752, 
it is generally supposed that the now prosperous town of that 
name took its rise at that date ; that there were no buildings here to 
speak of and, consequently, no population; that the town was only 
laid off — surveyed — at the time indicated; and that the court met 
elsewhere, even after the act of the General Assembly creating the 



FREDERICK COUNTY. ' 91 

village by name was passed; but the reverse of this state of affairs 
can be shown conclusively by the proceedings of the early justices 
and documents extant. Tradition places the nucleus of a town Avhere 
Winchester now stands as early as 1732, for it is related that two of 
the best known families now residing in the city named had their 
origin in two cabins located on what is now known as the town run. 
The name of one of these families occurs among the records of land 
transfers as early as 1743, the other not until many years after. The 
following documents copied from the first Deed Book, and bearing 
date March 0, 1743, gives the first glimpse, of what is now Winchester^ 
but what was called, as will be shown, for several years, Frederick 
Town. 

KNOW all men by these presents that I, James Wood, of Frederick 
county, am held and firmly bound unto Morgan Morgan, Thomas 
Chester, David Vance, Andrew Campbell, Marquis Calmes, Thomas 
Kutherford, Lewis Neill, William McMachen, Meredith Helms, George 
Hoge, John White and Thomas Little, gents., Justices of the said 
county and their successors, in the sum of one thousand pounds cur- 
rent money of Virginia, to be paid to the said Morgan Morgan, Thomas 
Chester, David Vance, Andrew Campbell, Marquis Calmes, Thomas 
Rutherford, Lewis Neill, William^McMachen, Meredith Helms, George 
Hoge, John White and Thomas Little, and their successors. To the 
which payment well and truly to be made, I bind myself, my heirs, 
executors and administrators firmly by these presents, sealed with ray 
seal, and dated this 9th day of March, 1743. 

THE CONDITION of the above obligation is such that whereas 
the above bound James Wood having laid off from the tract of land 
on which he now dwells at Opeckon, in the county aforesaid, twenty- 
six lots of land containing half an acre each, together with two streets 
running through the said lots, each of the breadth of thirty-three feet, 
as will more plainly appear by a plan thereof in the possession of the 
said Morgan Morgan, Marquis Calmes, and William McMachen. And 
whereas the said Jaines AVood, for divers good causes and considera- 
tions him thereunto jnoving, but more especially for and in consider- 
ation of the sum of five shillings current money to him in hand paid, 
the receipt whereof he doth here acknowledge, Hath bargained and 
sold, on the conditions hereafter mentioned, all his right, title, interest, 
property and claim, to twenty-two of the said lots to the aforesaid 
Morgan Morgan, &c., his Majesties' Justices of the said county for the 
time being and their successors, to be disposed of by them for the use 
of the said county as they shall judge most proper, the said lots being 
numbered in the beforementioned plan as follows, viz: Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6, 
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26, on the 
following conditions, viz: that they, the said Justices or their assigns,. 



> 



92 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

shall, within two years from the day of the sale o£ the said lots, build 
or cause to be built on each lot one house, either framed work or 
squared logs, dovetailed, at least of the dimensions of 20 feet by 16, 
and in case any person in possession of a lot or lots fail to build within 
the time limited, the property of the said lot or lots to return to the 
said James Wood, his heirs or assigns. And whereas the said James 
AVood not having yet obtained a patent for the said land can only give 
bond to warrant and defend the property of the said lots to the said 
Justices, their successors or assigns. Now if the said James Wood, his 
heirs, executors and administrators, shall from time to time at all times 
hereafter maintain, protect and defend the said Justices, their succes- 
sors and assigns, in the peaceable and quiet possession of the before- 
mentioned lots of land from all persons whatsoever, Thomas Lord 
Fairfax, his heirs, or any other person claiming under him or them 
only excepted. And further, if the said James Wood, his heirs, &c., 
shall hereafter obtain either from His Majesty by patent or from the 
said Thomas Lord Fairfax or his heirs, a better title to the laud of the 
said lots, than what he is possessed of at present, that then the said 
James Wood, his heirs, &c., shall within one year, if required, make 
such other title for the said lots to the said Justices or their successors, 
as their council learned in the law shall advise so far forth as his own 
title shall extend. Now if the said James Wood, his heirs, executors 
and administrators, shall well and truly perform all and singular the 
above conditions, then this obligation to be void, otherwise to be and 
remain in full force and virtue. 

J. Wood. 
Sealed and delivered in the presence of 

Wm. Jolliffe, 

Jno. Newport, 

Thos. Postgate. 

At a court continued and held for Frederick county, on Saturday, 
the 10th day of March, '1743, James Wood, gent., in open court, ac- 
knowledged this his bond to His Majesties*' Justices, which is ordered 
to be recorded. 

Test: J. Wood, CI. Ct. 

The entire district for a circuit of ten miles was called " Opeckan 
District," which included Frederick Town. Wood, it appears from 
the above documents, did not at that time own the land, but he 
acquired title to it, possibly, upon the arrival of Lord Fairfax. That 
the town was called Frederick Town appears in an order laying off a 
road, which reads, in part, as follows: "A road from Frederick Town 
to the mouth of the South Branch," and another from " The town to 
Dr. Briscoe's." 

Among the proceedings of the court, August 7, 17-17, is to be 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 93 

found the following: "On motion of John Hopes it is ordered that 
no person or persons presume to strain, either by pacing or racing 
thro' the street by the court house in the time of holding court, or at 
any other public time whatever, under the penalty of a severe fine, 
and it is further ordered that the sheriff give public notice of the 
said order." 

The above confirms the idea that the court house stood upon Water 
Street and that that street was the first one laid off. The street now 
known as Loudon, at least from its junction with Water southward 
was known as the "great road." A road was laid off, as stated, "from 
Opeckan to the court house," which shows that the court house was 
not near the Opequon Creek as some have supposed. 

March 8, 1748, the following occurs as a portion of the business 
transacted by the justices: "On the motion of James Wood setting 
forth that the prison bounds for the county as now laid off including 
the town, is detrimental to the creditor. It is ordered that the sur- 
veyor of this county lay off ten acres adjoining the prison and includ- 
ing the court house, beginning on the south side the run, running 
with the front of the houses on the west side the street, till a square 
course will take in Mrs. Humphrey's house and back of the court 
house for the complement, and that Isaac Perkins, gent., agree with 
workmen to set up posts at each corner of the said bounds, or more, 
if needful." This arrangement was repealed the following year at the 
request of Robert Lemon and others, for reasons not stated, and the 
original bounds restored. 

" Prison bounds " was an institution that obtained in those early 
days and even extended far into the lives of persons who are now liv- 
ing. When a person became involved in debt and refused to pay he 
could be arrested and imprisoned, but his " imprisonment " did not 
necessarily mean being locked up, if he could give bail that he would 
not escape. If he happened to reside within the laid off' " prison 
bounds " he could go about his business as usual, live at home, and 
no change would take place in his condition, but if he stepped one 
foot from the allotted bounds his bail would be forfeited. On those 
conditions, it is said, a citizen of Winchester of some prominence 
lived at his home and transacted his business for a number of years, 
but he was so located that he could not go to his stable, an alley lying 
between his residence-lot and that building, said alley being the 
dividing line between "incarceration and liberty." 



94 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

The above order of the Court shows that there was considerable of 
a settlement here at the date stated; so that when James Wood pe- 
titioned the General Assembly, three years later, for the lawful es- 
tablishment of his town, he had a population to justify his request. 
Following is the act passed in February, 1752: 

An Ad for EstahUshing ilie Town of Winchesfer and Appointing 
Fairs therein. 

I. WHEREAS, it hath been represented to this General Assembly, 
that James Wood, gentleman, did survey and lay out a parcel of land, 
at the court house in Frederick county, in twenty-six lots of half an 
acre each, with streets for a town, by the name of Winchester, and 
made sale of the said lots to divers persons, who have since settled 
and built, and continue building and settling thereon ; but because the 
same was not laid off and erected into a town, by act of Assembly, 
the freeholders and inhabitants thereof will not be entitled to the like 
privileges, enjoyed by the freeholders and inhabitants of other towns- 
in this colony; 

II. BE it enacted by the Lieutenant Governor, Council and Bur- 
gesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by 
the authority of the same, that the said parcel of land, lately claimed 
by the said James Wood, lying and being in the county of Frederick 
aforesaid, together with fifty-four other lots of half an acre each, 
twenty-four thereof to be laid off in one or two streets, on the east 
side of the former lots, the street or streets to run parallel with the 
street already laid off, and the remaining thirty lots to be laid off 
at the north end of the aforesaid twenty-six lots with a commodious 
street or streets, in such manner as the proprietor thereof, the right 
honourable Thomas Lord Fairfax, shall think fit, be, and is hereby con- 
stituted, appointed, erected and established, a town, in the manner al- 
ready laid out, and described to be laid out, to be called by and retain 
the name of Winchester, and that the freeholders of the said town, 
shall forever hereafter, enjoy the same privileges with the freeholders 
of other towns, erected by act of Assembly, enjoy. 

III. And whereas allowing fairs to be kept in the said toAvn of 
Winchester, will be of great benefit to the inhabitants of the said 
parts, and greatly increase the trade of that town. Be it therefore 
eiiacted by the autliority aforesaid, that for the future, two fairs shall 
and may be annually kept, and held, in the said town of Winchester, 
on the third Wednesday in June, and the third Wednesday in October, 
in every year, and continue for the space of two days, for the sale and 
vending all manner of cattle, victuals, provisions, goods, wares, and 
merchandizes, whatsoever; on which fair days, and two days next be- 
fore, and two days next after, the said fairs, all persons coming to, 
being at, or going from the same, together with their cattle, goods. 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 97 

wares, and merchandizes, shall be exempted, and privileged, from all 
arrests, attachments, and executions, whatsoever, except for capital 
ofPenses, breaches of the peace, or for any controversies, suits, or 
quarrels, that may arise and happen during the said time, in which 
case process may immediately be issued, and proceedings thereupon 
had, in the same manner as if this act had never been made, anything 
herein before contained, or any law, custom, or usage, to the contrary 
thereof, in any wise, notwithstanding. 

IV. Provided always. That nothing herein contained, shall be con- 
strued, deemed, or taken, to derogate from, alter, or infringe, the 
royal power and prerogative of his majesty, his heirs and successors, 
of granting to any person or persons, body politic and corporate, the 
privileges of holding fairs, or markets, in any such manner as he or 
they, by his or their royal letters patent, or by his or their instruc- 
tions, to the governor, or commander in chief of this dominion, for 
the time being, shall think fit. 

Having established our town of Winchester, it may be interesting 
to know the origin of the name, James Wood, of course, named his 
town, and many persons suppose that he selected the title in honor of 
Lord Winchester, but it is altogether probable that such was not the 
case. AVoi:)d was an Englishman and it is very likely a city-bred man, 
for he was a good penman and had eminent business and clerkly 
acquirements, which facts pointed him out to the early justices as the 
proper person for clerk of their court. People removing from their 
homes to distant sections are in the habit of naming the new localities 
where they settle after those which they have left. What more nat- 
ural, therefore, than that Clerk Wood should name his town after the 
city where he had spent his youthful days? So the ancient city of 
Winchester in England was, doubtless, the original home of the 
founder of the county seat of Frederick; therefore, as to the history 
of that city and its name a few facts may be interesting. " Reese's 
English Cyclopedia" says under the head Winchester: 

" An ancient and eminent city, in Hampshire, or the county of 
Southampton, in England, eleven miles north northeast from Soutli- 
ampton, and sixty-two and one-half west southwest fi-om London, 
The buildings are disposed on the eastern declivity of a low hill which 
gently slopes to the valley of the river Itchen, the chalky cliflFs of 
which, and the chalky soil of the surrounding heights, in the opinion 
of Camden, occasioned the ancient name of the city, Caer-Gwent, sig- 
nifying the "White-city." The latter portion of the name, under the 
Romans, became Venta, with the addition of Belgarum, from its sit- 

7 



98 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

uatioii ill the country occupied by the Belgie, by which it was distin- 
guished from Venia Silurum, now Caerwent in Monmouthshire, and 
Venta Icenorum, now Castor, near Norwich, in Norfolk. From Gicenf 
or Vcnfa we have the first part of the name, and Chester, the last part, 
is a corruption of Casfra, the Roman term for encampments of differ- 
ent kinds: a frequent name, or appendage of a name, of various places 
in England, and perhaps invariably an indication that such places owe 
both their origin and their primitive form to the military stations of 
the earliest conquerors of Britain." 

The origin of the English Winchester, remote as it unquestionably 
is, has been carried back to an epoch far beyond belief, even a cen- 
tury and a half anterior to the foundation of Rome. Without referring 
to such remote and uncertain time, it may safely be inferred that that 
spot was occupied by the Belgfe, a Germanic tribe who, passing from 
Gaul, took possession of the country bordering the southern coast of 
England. (Vid. Ctesar's Bel. Gal. ii. 4.) Previous to their occu- 
pancy, it is conjectured that Winchester was the Caer-Gwent, or 
white city, of the aboriginal Britons. After the Romans had subdued 
the Belgse and the Britons they took possession of this town, and for- 
tified it with ramparts and walls. These were disposed on the slop- 
ing side of a hill, and in the usual form of a parallelogram. After 
the Romans left the Island in 44(), Gortheryn, or Vortigern, was 
elected chief of the western district, and he fixed his seat of govern- 
ment at Winchester. This ancient city as well as the whole island 
was destined soon to experience a total change of polity, customs and 
manners, by the introduction and domination of the Saxons in 519. 
On the advent of these, our hardy progenitors, the name of the city was 
changed from aboriginal Gwent-Caer and the Roman Venfci-Castra, to 
another of equal import, Wintan-ceaster, from which the modern 
name, Winchester, has easily, gradually and imperceptibly been formed. 

The first event of importance in the history of Winchester after its 
establishment by law was the arrival in the primitive village of a young 
gentleman, scarce twenty-one years of age, who was destined twenty - 
five years later to lead the armies of his country to victory, give peace 
and prosperity to a land the fairest upon which ever shone the sun of 
a beneficent creator, whose name and whose fame has gone abroad to 
the utmost bounds of civilization, and whose patriotic deeds and mili- 
tary valor will go ringing down the ages till time shall be no more. 
Having been a resident of Winchester for nearly four years, and a 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 99 

member of tbe General Assembly of Virginia from the county of 
Frederick in 1758-61, a short sketch of the origin of this illustrious 
man is appropriate in this work. 

George AVashington was born in the parish which bears his family 
name, in the county of Westmoreland, Va., on February 22, 1732. He 
was the third son of Augustine Washingtoii, a planter of respectable 
talents, distinguished integrity, and large estate; descended from an 
ancient family of Cheshire, England, one of whom removed to Yirginia 
about the middle of the seventeenth century, and became the proprie- 
tor of a large tract of land in King George's County. Inhaling the pure 
mountain air, and accustomed to the healthful occupations of a rural 
life, his limbs expanded to a large and well proportioned size, corre- 
sponding with his majestic stature. His education was suited to the 
business of the country. His classical studies were not pursued be- 
yond the rudiments of the Latin tongue, but his knowledge of the 
most useful branches of mathematics, and particularly in relation to 
surveying, was extensive, for the many tracts of land surveyed for 
Lord Fairfax in Fredei'ick County, show his attainments in this regard. 
He came to this section when he was but seventeen years of age, as 
the list of lands laid off by him and printed in a previous chapter of 
this work attest. At the age of ten years, his father dying, the charge 
of a numerous family devolved on young Washington's eldest brother, 
Lawrence, a gentleman of fine attainments, who held a captain's com- 
mission in the provincial troops, and who was with Admiral Vernon in 
the celebrated attack on Carthagena. Lawrence married the daugh- 
ter of William Fairfax and settled on the patrimonial estate, calling 
it through respect for his former commander. Mount Vernon. Lawrence 
was afterward made adjutant-general of the militia of the colony, but 
he did not long survive his appointment. He left a daughter who 
died young, : and his second brother having died without issue, George 
succeeded to Mount Vernon. At the age of fifteen he was entered as 
a midshipman in the British navy, but his mother, then a widow, .un- 
willing that he* should be employed at so great a distance from her, 
induced him to forego that profession, and he began life as a surveyor. 

The French, with their Indian allies, had for many years gradu- 
ally been making encroachments from the direction of Louisiana and 
Canada. They were endeavoring by a series of fortifications and mili- 
tary posts to unite these two far distant sections of the continent. 
The English, on the other hand, claimed the country from the Atlantic 



100 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

to the Pacific between the tAvo points named, and gave a grant of 600,- 
000 acres of land to the "Ohio Company," who carried on large traffic 
in furs with the Indians. This company, pressing forward into what 
the French deemed their own domain, the fact was brought to the 
notice of the governor of Canada, who wrote to the governors of New 
York and Pennsylvania protesting against the inroads of the Ohio 
Company, ^nd claiming the entire country east of the Ohio River to 
the Alleghanies. Several of the traders of the company named were 
carried off and the Indians were encouraged by the French to active 
hostilities against the English along the frontiers. Many atrocities 
were committed by the savages until the matter became unbearable, 
and action was decided upon by the governor of Virginia, along the 
borders of which nearly all the barbarities were committed. Gov. 
Dinwiddle, Avho had arrived in Virginia in 1752, at the ensuing ses- 
sion of the General Assembly, laid the complaints and protests of the 
fur company and frontier people before that body, who authorized the 
governor to despatch a messenger to the commandant of the French 
fort, on a branch of French Creek about fifteen miles south of Lake 
Erie. George Washington, then but twenty-one years of age, and a 
major of militia, was intrusted with the delicate and hazardous enter- 
prise. Maj. Washington started from Williamsburg the last day of 
October, 1753, came to Alexandria and thence to Winchester, where 
he supplied himself with horses, baggage, etc. At that period Win- 
chester was the outpost of the frontier villages or towns, for beyond 
the mountains not far distant lurked the savage foe ready, from be- 
hind every tree, to slay without mercy any unfortunate white person 
who should cross his path. And what an undertaking for a young 
man of his age! But the future father of his country had within him 
those qualities to make him surmount all obstacles, where good was 
to be the result. The party was composed of eight persons in all : 
an Indian interpreter, a French intrepreter, a guide, and four others 
besides himself. The journey required experience in the modes of 
traveling through the woods, and a knowledge of the Indian character. 
The distance was about 550 miles, over rugged mountains and mostly 
through a howling wilderness. After much toil in an inclement sea- 
son, in marching over snow-covered mountains and crossing rivers on 
frail rafts, they at length reached the junction of the Monongahela 
with the Allegheny. Washington made a careful examination of the 
location, for it struck him as an eligible site for a fort, and by his 



FREDEEICK COUNTY. 101 

recommendation the fortification was erected there that afterward be- 
came so celebrated. Twenty miles below the forks of the Ohio, at a 
place called Logstown, he had a conference with some of the Indian 
chiefs, to whom he delivered a message from the governor, soliciting 
them to furnish a guard to the party to enable them to reach the 
French fort. The principal sachem was Tanacharison, the Half-King, 
as he was called. Having met in council Washington addressed 
them, explaining the object of his mission. The chiefs made a pacific 
reply, and Tanacharison and three others accompanied the young am- 
bassador to the French fort. The commandant, M. de St. Pierre, 
received Washington cordially, who presented his commission and 
letter from Gov. Dinwiddle. The letter claimed that the lands on the 
Ohio belonged to the British crown, and requested a speedy and 
peaceful departure of the French. The reply of St. Pierre was respect- 
ful, but stated that the letter should have been addressed to the French 
governor in Canada, and that it was his duty to remain where he was 
until ordered elsewhere by his superiors. Washington and his party 
were politely entertained, yet the French commandant used artifice to 
detain the Indians. The whole company, however, left and proceeded 
down the river as far as Venango, which they reached after sis days. 
The trip was full of perils from rocks and drifting trees. They found 
their horses, which they had left, in an emaciated condition, and to 
relieve the animals Washington and Messrs. Gist and Vanbraam, the 
guide and French interpreter, proceeded on foot with gun and knap- 
sack each. After many trials they reached the Allegheny River, but 
found no means of crossing. Washington said in regard to this por- 
tion of the journey: "There was no way of getting over except on a 
raft, which we sat about making with but one poor hatchet, and fin- 
ished just after sun-setting. This was one whole day's work. We 
next got it launched, and went on board of it; then set off. But 
before we were half way over we were jammed in the ice in such a 
manner that we expected every moment our raft would sink and our- 
selves perish. I put out my setting pole to try to stop the raft that 
the ice might pass by, when the rapidity of the stream threw it with 
so much violence against the pole that it jerked me out into ten feet of 
water. But I fortunately saved myself by catching hold of one of the 
raft-logs. Notwithstanding all our efforts we could not get the raft 
to either shore, but were obliged, as we were near an island, to quit our 
raft and make to it." The night was passed in great suffering from 



102 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

the intense cold, the island being desert. In the morning, the river 
being frozen over, they passed in safety, and after sixteen weeks ab- 
sence Washington arrived at Williamsburg. 

The failure of the mission of Maj. Washington to accomplish the 
result desired by the governor of Virginia revealed the intentions of 
the French, and active measures were instituted to oppose the encroach- 
ments of the enemy. A regiment was raised by Col. Joshua Fry, with 
Washington as lieutenant-colonel, and Capt. Trent's company was 
hastily sent forward to commence the building of a fort at the junction 
of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, but a company of French 
and Indians, under Capt. Contrecoeur, arrived and drove off the Vir- 
ginians, and built Fort Duquesne. Washington, who was posted at 
Will's Creek (afterward Fort Cumberland), with three companies 
awaiting the arrival of Col. Fry with the remainder of the regiment 
and the artillery, wrote for reinforcements, and pushed rapidly forward 
to the Monongahela. His intention was to gain a point somewhere 
above the forks of the two rivers, await the arrival of Col. Fry, and 
then drop down to Fort Duquesne, but learning that the French were 
coming out to meet him, he hurried forv/ard to Great Meadows, and 
threw up an intrenchment. The French had come out with a consid- 
erable party, for the double purpose of giving battle where they would 
have the advantage, and, in case of necessity, of making it appear that 
they came as an embassy to request the English to depart. This bat- 
tle, a description of which is not necessary here, was recited by French 
writers at the time much to the prejudice of Washington. The French 
historians, in fact, afterward called the killing of one of their principal 
officers, M. Jumonville, an assassination. But that the skirmish and 
its disastrous resulls were due to the superior foresight and skill of 
Washington there is no doubt; he simply outgeneraled the French- 
man, and they in their chagrin at defeat at the hands of a few raw 
backwoodsmen, endeavored to cover the disgrace by misrepresenta- 
tions to their government. Washington, in his report to the governor, 
says, after relating the circumstances leading up to the engagement: 
" When we came to the Half-King (a friendly chief), I counseled with 
him, and got his consent to go hand-and-hand and strike the French. 
Accordingly he, Monocawacha and a few other Indians, set out with 
us, and when we came to the place where the tracks were, the Half- 
King sent two Indians to follow their tracks, and discover their 
lodgment, which they did at half a mile from the road, in a very 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 103 

obscure place surrounded Avitli rocks. I thereupon formed a disposi- 
tion to attack them on all sides, and after an engagement of about 
fifteen minutes we killed ten, wounded one, and took twenty-one pris- 
oners. The principal officers taken are M. Drouillon and M. La Force, 
of whom your honor has often heard me speak, as a bold, enterprising 
man, and a person of great subtlety and cunning. With these were 
two cadets. We have only one man killed and two or three wounded 
(among whom was Lieut. Waggoner, slightly), a most miraculous 
escape, as our right wing was much exposed to their tire, and received 
it all.'' 

In his journal Washington, writing of the above ajffair, says: 
" They pretend that they called to us as soon as we were discovered, 
which is absolutely false, for I was at the head of the party in ap- 
proaching them, and I can affirm that as soon as they saw us they ran 
to their arras, without calling, which I should have heard if they had 
done so." 

Washington sent his prisoners taken in this action to the governor, 
and proceeded to erect a stockade which he called " Fort Necessity," 
from its temporary character, expecting that the defeat at Great 
MeadoAvs would arouse the French at Fort Duquesne and his conject- 
ures were realized, for M. de Yilliers soon appeared with a strong 
detachment, and after an investment of a few hours Fort Necessity 
was surrendered. The entire garrison was to be permitted to leave 
with the honors of war and to surrender the prisoners taken at Great 
Meadows, all of which was performed, and Washington and his brave 
companions took their weary way back to Will's Creek. From thence 
Col. Washington, who was now in command of the forces. Col. Fry 
having died some time previously, returned to Winchester, had a con- 
sultation with Lord Fairfax, county lieutenant of Frederick, and tlien 
proceeded on his way to Williamsburg. As soon as the House of 
Burgesses assembled they passed a vote of thanks to Col. AVashington 
and his officers for their bravery and gallant conduct. The young 
commander, as yet a mere youth, inexperienced and unskilled in war- 
fare, save from his own natural resources, was present, and a word or 
two of acknowledgment was looked for from him, but he hesitated for 
lack of words, seeing which the speaker relieved him by saying: 
" Young man, sit down; your modesty is equal to your valor, and that 
surpasses any language I can express." Washington shortly after 
this episode came to Winchester, being entertained, tradition has it, 
by Lord Fairfax and Col. James Wood. 



104 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

The population of Virginia at this time, 1754, was estimated by 
Franklin to have been 85,000 — the whole population of the English 
colonies being but 1,046,000. The entire colony of New York was 
only 100,000. The valley of Virginia, according to the best ascer- 
tained estimates, contained less than one-third the population of the 
colony, say 25,000, from which deduct about 5,000 for the settlements 
above the line of Shenandoah, and 20,000 is left as the population of 
the lower valley, including all settlements westward of what is now 
Frederick and Berkeley Counties. It will be seen from this sparse 
population that the early settlers were necessarily located at long dis- 
tances apart, and, therefore, liable at any time to the incursions of the 
hostile savages who had become, under the incitement of the French, 
doubly bold in their relentless attacks upon the defenseless homes of 
those of the pioneers whose humble habitations Avere situated amid 
the wilds of the mountain districts, or isolated in the Aerdant vales far 
from any friendly fort or sympathizing neighbors who could rally to 
their assistance. 

Such a state of affairs existing, when man, woman nor child dared 
venture scarce one hundred yards from their homes; when neither age, 
sex or helplessness, afforded the least shield from the rifle, the toma- 
hawk and the scalping knife; when the terrible yell of the brutal red 
skins and the destructive firebrands of the heartless foe might be 
expected at any moment, is it any wonder that a general rejoicing per- 
vaded the settlements when it was rumored during the winter of 
1753-4 that the Indians contemplated removing west of the mountains 
in the spring? And can their joy be imagined when it was found 
that by the latter part of March they had left the valley almost to a 
man? What caused the sudden exodus of the savages was not cer- 
tainly known, nor did the settlers care Avhat produced it; enough for 
them to know was that they had gone. The vigorous operations of 
Washington in the preliminary contests had shown the French that 
they had no trifling foemen to deal with, and they, therefore, con- 
cluded to concentrate all their resources for the conflict that was 
shortly to decide the supremacy of the two nations along the Ohio. 
The Indians were important allies to the Frenchmen, so they called 
them in from the valley, and although the riddance was not total and 
permanent, yet the result of the struggle at Fort Duquesne a few years 
later decided that the white man should be the ruler of this beautiful 
Shenandoah Valley, But even after this blow to France and the 



FEEDERICK COUNTY. 105 

•curbing of the Indians, many valuable lives were lost at the hands of 
predatory bands of the marauding red devils. 

One of the stipulations at the surrender of Fort Necessity was that 
Washington should return the French prisoners taken at the battle of 
Oreat Meadows, which was done as soon as the commander arrived at 
Winchester, where they were held and guarded by a small detachment 
of soldiers and citizens. That the prisoners were in Winchester ap- 
pears from the proceedings of one of the justices' courts held in Sep- 
tember, 1754, where several parties are arraigned before the authori- 
ties for "refusing to guard the French prisoners," and fined for 
neglecting to fulfill that duty. AVashington's name appears on the 
records of Frederick County for the first time on October 1, 1754, in 
a case instituted by John Harrow against the afterward father of his 
■country, but what the charge was doth not appear, as the suit was 
dropped by the court, and nothing further was done in regard to it. 
Washington resided in Winchester, or had his permanent headquar- 
ters there, during the larger portion of two years, as is amply 
shown by his name appearing in connection with various local matters 
in the proceedings of the justices for a period covering the time 
stated, and particularly where, in a year or two later, he requests to be 
placed upon the list of tithables of the county. 

In August, 1754, Gov. Dinwiddle having resolved to prosecute the 
war against the French on the western fi'ontier, wrote to Washington 
at Winchester to fill up the companies of his regiment by enlistment 
and lead them without delay to Will's Creek, where Col. lunes, with 
some troops from the Carolinas and New York, were building Fort 
Cumberland. The governor was totally ignorant of militaiy affairs; 
knew nothing of the country to the west of the mountains, and his 
preliminary measures were supremely injudicious, not to say ridicu- 
lous. From Fort Cumberland it was Dinwiddle's project that the 
united forces should immediately cross the Alleghanies and drive the 
French from Fort Duquesne, or build another fort beyond the mount- 
ains. Col. Washington, astonished at the absurdity of the scheme, 
contemplated at- a season when the mountains would be covered with 
snow, and the army enfeebled and destitute of supplies, made such 
strong protests that t)ie project was abandoned. The General Assem- 
bly, who would not yield to all the demands made by the governor, 
opposed the plan, and His Excellency never ceased to charge that body 
with being "republican in their way of thinking." He had lately pro- 



106 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

rogued them, to punish their obstinacy, and wrote to his royal mas- 
ter across the water that he was satisfied that the French would never 
be effectually opposed unless the colonies were compelled, independ- 
ently of assemblies, to contribute to the common cause. Fifty thousand 
pounds, partly raised by the colony of Virginia and partly sent 
from England, enabled the governor to enlarge the army to ten com- 
panies of 100 men each. They were established as independent com- 
panies, by which arrangement the highest officers in the Virginia 
regiment would be reduced to captains. The high spirit of Washing- 
ton revolted against this degradation; so he resigned his commission 
and retired from the service, leaving the doughty governor to fight 
his own battles with the Frenchman. Little dreamed Dinwiddle when 
he attempted to reduce that young colonel to a captaiu how soon his 
flashing sword would sweep from the colonies not only the French, but 
King George and all royalty, "pride, pomp and circnmstance " of 
thrones and principalities. 

The mother country, realizing the importance of speedy and effect- 
ual measures for the removal of the enemy on the frontiers of her val- 
uable colonies, dispatched to their assistance in the spring of 1755, 
Maj.-Gen. Edward Braddock, who was in command at Cork, Ireland, 
with two regiments, the Forty-fourth, Col. Sir Peter Halkett, and the 
Forty-eighth, Col. Dunbar. The general with his two well-equipped 
and disciplined regiments of English regulars arrived in Alexandria 
in March, and April 11 he held a consultation with Com. Kippel. 
There were present Govs. Dinwiddle, Sherley, Morris, Sharp and 
Dulany from Williamsburg. At this conference Braddock promised 
to be beyond the Alleghanies by April, and it is charged that he even 
prepared expresses to be sent back to announce his victories. He pro- 
ceeded from Alexandria across the mountains to Winchester, where, 
it is thought, Washington offered his services as aid-de-camp to the 
general, which was accepted, and where, also, according to tradition, 
Franklin, then postmaster-general of the colonies, met the English 
officer. It is, also, almost a certainty that Daniel Morgan joined the 
command at Winchester as a wagoner, for he was then just twenty 
years of age, and followed wagoning for a livelihood. Braddock was 
a brave and experienced officer in European warfare, but entirely un- 
fit for the services upon which he was engaged; he simply knew noth- 
ing of the habits of the Indians and their mode of fighting, and the 
savages were the most important branch of the French service in 



FREDEKICK COUNTY. 107 

America. He looked upon the colonial troops as the rudest and crud- 
est militiamen, and considered his lowest subalterns the superiors of 
the highest officers of the Virginia regiments placed at his disposal 
at Winchester and Will's Creek (Fort Cumberland). He formed ex- 
travagant plans for his campaign. He would march forward and reduce 
Fort Duquesne, thence proceed against Fort Niagara, which, having 
conquered, he would close a season of victories by the capture of Fort 
Frontignac, but Vhomme propose, et Dieu dispose. After much delay in 
consequence of being encumbered with baggage, the day of starting 
arrived, which was the 8th of June, but they soon came to a halt and 
decided to divide the force. Washington asked permission to take the 
advance and scour the woods with his provincial troops, but was re- 
fused. The general with 1,200 chosen men, under Sir Peter Halkett, 
Lieut. -Col. Gage, Lieut. -Col. Burton and Maj. Sparks, started on 
their unfortunate trip, and proceeded through that wild savage- 
haunted region without the precautions so well known to Washington 
and his Virginian borderers. The French, who were kept advised of 
every movement, made ample preparations to receive them. Wash- 
ington fell sick in .the meantime and was left with Col. Dunbar, who 
remained in command of the reserve left in the rear, but he managed 
to regain the side of Gen. Braddock the day before the disastrous 
defeat. 

The army crossed to the left bank of the Monongahela, a little 
below the mouth of the Youghiogheny, being prevented by the rugged 
hills from continuing along the right bank to the fort. Washington 
was heard to say many times afterward that the most beautiful spec- 
tacle he ever beheld was the display of the British troops on this 
eventful occasion. Officers and men were equally inspirited with 
cheering hopes and confident anticipations, but they knew not the 
wiles of the enemy who were leading them into the jaws of death. 

" In this manner they marched forward until about noon, when 
they arrived at the second crossing, ten miles from Fort Duquesne. 
By the order of march a body of 300 men under Col. Gage made 
the advanced party, which was immediately followed by another 200. 
Next came the general with the columns of artillery, the main body 
of the army and the baggage. At one o'clock the whole had crossed 
the river, and almost at this moment a sharp firing was heard upon 
the advanced parties, who were now ascending the hill, and had pro- 
ceeded about a hundred yards from the termination of the plain. A 



108 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

heavy discharge of musketry was poured in upon their front, which 
was the first intelligence they had of the proximity of the enemy, 
and this was suddenly followed by another on the right flank. They 
were filled with the greater consternation, as no enemy was in sight, 
and the firing seemed to proceed from an invisible foe. They fired 
in turn, but quite at random, and obviously without effect." 

All was in the utmost confusion; Braddock hastened forward to 
the relief of the advanced parties, but it was all in vain. A panic 
seized the regulars, who were unused to such warfare, and they fled, 
as Washington afterward wrote, " like sheep before dogs." The Vir- 
ginians were the only ones who seemed to retain their senses; they 
behaved with bravery and resolution and deserved a better fate. An 
ofl&cer who witnessed the engagement said that Col. Washington be- 
haved with the utmost coolness and bravery, that he was everywhere 
on the field, and seemed to bear a charmed life. Washington him- 
self, said in a letter to his brother: " By the all-powerful dispensa- 
tions of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human proba- 
bility or expectation, for I had four bullets through my coat, and two 
horses shot under me, yet I escaped unhurt, although death was level- 
ing my companions on every side of me." 

So bloody a contest has rarely been witnessed. The number of 
officers in the engagement was eighty-four, of whom twenty-six were 
killed and thirty-seven wounded. The general himself was shot in 
the early part of the action, and died a day or two after. In this con- 
nection, it is said that one of the provincials, partly in revenge for 
Braddock's striking his brother, and partly to save the rest of the 
army from death by the obstinacy of that general, shot him from be- 
hind a tree. The remnant of the army being put to flight, Washing- 
ton returned to Col. Dunbar, who ordered up horses and wagons for 
the Avounded. The enemy did not pursue, as the Indians refused to 
leave the rich field of carnage and plunder, and the French were too 
few to act without their aid. 

Col. Dunbar, succeeding to the command of the troops, after the 
defeat of Braddock, marched them to Philadelphia, and Col. Washing- 
ton repaired to Williamsburg to await events. He was given the com- 
mand of all the forces raised and to be raised in Virginia, with the 
privilege of selecting his own field officers. He chose as his next in 
command Lieut. -Col. Adam Stephen and Maj. Andrew Lewis, and 
made Winchester his headquarters. The General Assembly voted him 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 109- 

£300; each of the captains, Adam Stephen, Thomas Waggoner and 
Robert Stewart, £75; each of the lieutenants, William Bronaugh, 
Walter Stewart, Hector MacNeal and Henry Woodward, and James 
Craig, surgeon, £30 ; and to the privates who survived, £5, in addition 
to their wages, which was quite a liberal proceeding on the part of those 
old law- makers. 

The victory of the French and Indians greatly emboldened them, 
and they made constant raids upon the settlements, and to such a pass 
had matters come that Washington hastened from AVinchester in the 
ensuing spring to Williamsburg, to prevail upon the governor to aug- 
ment the forces by additional men, and to build a fort at Winchester. 
He was deeply concerned at the situation of the defenseless people on 
the border, and with that kindness of heart which at all times seemed 
to be twin attribute to his valor, he wrote the woes of the hardy and 
long-suffering pioneer in the following letter, which deserves to be 
printed on silver and framed in gold: 

" I see their situation, I know their danger, and participate their 
sufferings, without having it in my power to give them further relief 
than uncertain promises. In short, I see inevitable destruction in so 
clear a light, that unless vigorous measures are taken by the Assembly, 
and speedy assistance sent from below, the poor inhabitants now in 
forts must unavoidably fall, while the remainder are flying before the 
barbarous foe. In fine, the melancholy situation of the people, the 
little prospect of assistance, the gross and scandalous abuses cast upon 
the officers in general, which is reflecting on me in particular, for suf- 
fering misconduct of such extraordinary kind, and the distant prospect, 
if any, of gaining reputation in the service, cause me to lament 
the hour that gave me a commission, and would induce me, at any 
other time than this of imminent danger, to resign, without one hesi- 
tating moment, a command from which I never expect to reap either 
honor or benefit ; but, on the contrary, have almost an absolute certainty 
of incurring displeasure below, while the murder of helpless families 
may be laid to my account here. The supplicating tears of the women 
and moving petitions of the men melt me with such deadly sorrow, 
that I solemnly declare, if I know my own mind, 1 could offer myself 
a willing sacrifice to the butchering enemy, provided that would con- 
tribute to the people's ease." 

It seems almost impossible that this magnificent letter, breathing 
the mature ideas of the patriot, the martyr and the father, should be 
the production of one who was scarce out of boyhood, being but 
twenty-four years of age ! This production was written in the town of 
Winchester, and forwarded to Gov. Dinwiddle, whose indifference to. 



110 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

the sufPerings of the frontier colonists was so flagrant as to be cow- 
ardly and brutal. 

War having been formally declared by France, 1756, the spring of 
that year witnessed increased barbarities on the part of the Indians. 
Massacres were occurring on all sides, scouting parties were ambushed, 
forts were attacked, and serious apprehensions were felt for the safety 
of Winchester. The number of troops were wholly insufficient for 
the protection of that village, which had become quite respectable in 
size. What the number of houses were is impossible to ascertain at 
this late date, but there were five or six taverns, or ordinaries, as they 
were termed, in operation, for licenses were granted to Robert Lemon, 
Jacob Sower, John Lindsey, John Stuart, Peter Wilt and Henry 
Heath, a couple of years prior to 1756. There were two stores, for 
the sale of all kinds of goods, one being kept by the same Robert 
Lemon mentioned above, and another by Robert Rutherford. There 
are indications of still others than those mentioned, as well as a num- 
ber of other businesses, and it is very likely that AVinchester at this 
time presented quite a busy appearance, with its court house and 
prison and whipping-post and stocks, to say nothing of that ingenious 
piece of mechanism, evolved from the brains of our forefathers, for 
the purpose of soothing our glib-tongued foremothers — the gentle 
"ducking-stool." [See Webster's Dictionary. J This apparatus, the 
"pit" being dug by William McMachen, and the "stool" furnished 
by Marquis Calmes, was located, it is thought, on that portion of the 
block north of the town run, bounded by London, Water and Cameron 
Streets. There were soldiers here nearly all the time, and one can 
imagine the stately and handsome young colonel, Washington, stand- 
ing by the tavern door of Henry Heath, or riding along Loudon 
Street, just named, on his way to give directions to the workmen at 
the fort on the hill, just being built. And let one picture to himself 
the joy of the inhabitants during the building of that fort; how they 
would congregate on the old hill out north yonder and watch the 
soldiers and workmen throwing up the bulwarks that would protect 
their wives and little ones from the ferocity of the savage. And is it 
any wonder that these people, as well as all others who ever came in 
contact with him, loved this man Washington for erecting this defense? 
Did he not appear to them, as he did twenty years later to the op- 
pressed colonists, a very shield and sword ? Happiness it was, indeed, 
to have looked upon the face of that illustrious man, and for whom 



FREDERICK COUNTY. Ill 

our best words of praise fall but tamely. Old Parson Weems, in his 
little "Life of Washington," has outstripped all the grandiloquent 
biographers of that wonderful man, for his simplicity and childlike 
enthusiasm not only voiced his own sentiments, but gave expression 
to a feeling that pervaded all American patriots at the time it was 
written. Even the delightful "little hatchet" incident (appearing no 
where else than in Weems) had a meaning far deeper than is noAv 
apparent. 

There must have been a little stir in the village on January 6, for 
at the recommendation of Washington a number of officers were ap- 
pointed by the justices, at a session of the court held on that date. 
George Mercer, Robert Stewart, Thomas Cock, William Bronough, 
Joshua Lewis, John Mercer, William Peachy and David Bell, were 
appointed captains in the Virginia regiment. Walter Stewart, John 
Williams and Augustine Brockenbrough were made lieutenants, and 
Charles Smith, Lehaynsius DeKeyser and William Crawford, ensigns. 
Dennis McCarty, William Beckley, James Kay and Robert John- 
son, four gallant frontiersmen, came up and volunteered their services 
in the same regiment. They all took the oath to his majesty. At this 
same session of the court the justices passed an order "for reasons 
thought proper" to adjourn to the house of Enoch Pearson. The 
"reasons" for this action was that the French and Indians were ex- 
pected to pay the village a visit at any moment, and the cautious old 
magistrates did not feel it their duty to ran the risk of having their 
official scalps dangling to the belt of some painted and indiscriminat- 
ing savage. Just where Enoch Pearson dwelt doth not appear, but 
it was, presumably, in some comparatively safe spot. Shortly after 
this the following may be seen among the proceedings of the justices: 
"A grand jury being summoned, were called and did not appear, be- 
ing occasioned by the commotions in the county on account of the 
Indians." Shortly after the above dates, on June 1, 1756, Washing- 
ton's name in connection with three others, appears as a witness against 
James Knap for forging or counterfeiting a treasury note of the 
colony, which shows that rascality is not a peculiarity of the present 
time, by any means. 

There having been some controversy in regard to the date of the 
building of the old fort at the north end of Winchester, the author 
has made search of the enactments of the General Assemblies of Vir- 
ginia, and has been rewarded by the discovery of the following clause 



112 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of Chapter II, Heuing's Statutes at Large, Vol. 7, p. 33; passed' 
March, 1756: 

XVI. And whereas it is now judged necessary that a fort should 
be immediately erected in the town of Winchester, in the county of 
Frederick, for the protection of the adjacent inhabitants from the bar- 
barities daily committed by the French and their Indian allies. Be it 
enacted by ttie authority aforesaid, That the governor, or commander 
in chief of this colony for the time being, is hereby impowered, and 
desired to order a fort to be built with all possible dispatch in the 
aforesaid town of Winchester, and that his honor do give such orders 
and instructions for the immediate erecting and garrisoning the same, 
as he shall think necessary for the purposes aforesaid. And the gov- 
ernor, or commander in chief of this colony, is hereby impowered, and 
desired to issue his warrant to the treasurer for the payment of sO' 
much money, as he shall think necessary for the purposes aforesaid, 
not exceeding the sum of one thousand pounds, who is hereby required 
to pay the same in treasury notes, to be emitted by virtue of the said 
act of Assembly, For raising the sum of twenty-five thousand pounds, 
for the better protection of the inhabitants on the frontiers of thi& 
colony, and for other j^urposes therein mentioned. 

The erection of the fort was begun ^as soon after the above appro- 
priation was made as possible. It was named by Washington Fort 
Loudon, in honor of the Earl of Loudon, who had succeeded Gen. 
Sherley in the command of the colonial forces. The location was ad- 
mirably selected, commanding, as it does, a large extent of coun- 
try. There was not an approach to it whereby any foe could gain its 
sides from any point, without being exposed to the rifles of those 
within the fort, which accounts for the fact that it never was attacked, 
there being no evidence, traditional or otherwise, that it ever was, al- 
though it is related that a French ofiicer once reconnoitered it, but 
went away satisfied that it was impregnable, at least so far as any 
force that he could bring to bear against it. It was erected by the 
soldiers of the First Virginia Regiment, and Washington is said to 
have brought some workmen from Mount Vernon to construct the iron 
work necessary in some portions of it. It was about 125 feet in length 
on each of its four sides, square, and with a bastion at each corner. 
It was what is known as a field-work, or redoubt, with curtains nine- 
ty-six feet in length, the bastions projecting twenty-five feet and with 
faces twenty-five feet, set at angles against each other. It had a very 
deep well inside the walls, said originally to have been over 100 feet 
in depth, which still supplies as much water as is desired. It is cut 



FEEDEKICK COUNTY. 115 

through the solid limestone, and the water is almost as cold as ice. 
The fort when finished was well garrisoned, and mounted six eighteen- 
pounders, six twelve-pounders, six six-pounders, four swivels and two 
howitzers, a pretty formidable armament in that primitive time. This 
fine array of war-dogs convinced the Frenchman that whoever should 
attempt to take that fort would meet with a tolerably warm reception. 
In fact, the capture of that old fort, if it existed to-day, garrisoned 
with that old regiment of Virginia riflemen, commanded by a Wash- 
ington, assisted by his able captains, would be a tough job even for 
any of our high-flying " Century-article-generals," with any but an 
overpowering force. Loudon Street, more than a century ago, was 
cut through the fort, and all that remains of it now is the southwest- 
ern bastion, fortunately preserved by the present proprietor of the 
property, although a cistern has been sunk into it. This old bastion 
looks grimly across to the earthworks on the hills to the westward, 
erected during the late war, and seems to say, after his sleep of one 
hundred and thirty-five years, " Who are you? " 

History is continually repeating itself. A few years ago people 
were arrested and fined, or their licenses revoked for selling liquor to 
soldiers. Now here is an " instance " that is not so " modern." Id 
the recorded proceedings of the justices on August 4, 1756, during 
the building of the fort, may be found this: " On the complaint of 
George Washington, Esq., against John Stuart, ordinary-keeper in 
Winchester, for entertaining soldiers contrary to order, the arguments 
of the parties being heard, it is ordered that the complaint be dis- 
missed." Another entry reads: "On motion of John Lindsey for 
leave to renew his license to keep an ordinary, the motion being ob- 
jected to by Col. George Washington, the arguments of the parties 
being heard, ordered that certficate be granted him and that his 
license be dated from May court, he having performed what the law 
directs and entered into bond, with Jacob Stickley his security." 

The only difference between the freedom of twenty-five years ago 
and the tyrannical times of one hundred and thirty-five, is that the r '^ 
old justices did not propose to let the military overrun, or run the 
civil power, whilst our modern Washingtons had a way of handling 
refractory magistrates and judges that was at least effective, if not 
esthetic. 

November 4, 1756, claims were laid before the court for public 
services by Capts. Thomas Swearengen, William Cocks, John Funk, 



116 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Cornelius Euddell and William Vance, on behalf of themselves and 
the detachments sent under their commands. Richard Thresher, 
asked pay for taking a deserter, and Jacob Sower, who kept a tavern, 
desired to be reimbursed for furnishing food, etc., to some soldiers. 
These bills were sent to the General Assembly. Complaint was 
lodged by Capt. Mercer, against a man and a woman for buying coats, 
etc., from soldiers of the Virginia regiment, contrary to law. 

April 7, 1757, the court "ordered that the jailor suffer the prisoners 
to be in the jailor's house in the day time during the time the gaol is 
repairing. Col. Washington having agreed to place a guard for the 
better security of the prisoners." And here is an item that knocks 
the wind out of that little story, that Powell's Fort was so named 
from the fact of a man taking refuge in that curious valley and defy- 
ing capture during the Revolution. The item was recorded almost 
twenty years before the colonies revolted: " May 3, 1757, John Funk 
is ordered to make list of tithables from Stony Creek down the North 
River to the mouth of Passage Run, including Powell's Fort, and 
all the waters of Cedar Creek." July 5, 1757, James Keith, who 
was afterward clerk of Frederick County, was admitted to practice at 
the bar, and on August 5, Andrew Mealey was paid for work done on 
the county lots. And here is a piece of information that clinches 
the fact that the father of his country resided here: "October 
4, 1757, on motion of George Washington, Esq., ordered that his 
tithables be set on the list." The following item shows the state of 
affairs, even in the town of Winchester, with a strong, well-garrisoned 
fort to guard it: "October 5, 1757, James Wood, clerk, is granted 
the privilege of removing the county records to Fort Loudon, or any 
where else he may secure them from the imminent danger from the 
enemy." That was not the last time those ancient documents were 
removed for safety, but the Red Indian cut no figure in the latter case. 

In December of 1756, the incursions of the Indians still increas- 
ing in frequency and boldness. Col. Washington drew up a paper on 
the military affairs of the province, which he transmitted to Lord 
Loudon, and in March, 1757, he attended a meeting in Philadelphia, 
where he was in consultation with several governors and principal 
officers. It was decided that the main efforts should be made on the 
Canada border, which Washington strenuously opposed, and recom- 
mended an expedition against Fort Duquesne. If those suggestions 
had been adopted the English would have saved the expense of an 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 117 

entire year's military operations. From this conference, disgusted 
and disheartened at the policy of his superiors, and with a heart 
bowed down at the sufferings of the poor defenseless frontier settlers, 
who were butchered in cold blood almost within shadow of the forts, 
by the wily and relentless savages, whose mode of warfare, stealthy 
and silent, was difficult to cope with, so long as the French backed 
them with their aid and the safety of their forts when pressed to 
close quarters, Washington returned to Winchester and resumed his 
routine duties as the commandant of Fort Loudon. 

The puerile policy, to say the least of it, of the military authori- 
ties of the colonies, due in large part to the influence of Gov. Din- 
widdle, whose incompetency was well known, happily terminated by 
the sailing for the mother country in January, 1758, of that function- 
ary, much to the satisfaction of Washington and the Virginians gen- 
erally. Mr. Pitt having succeeded to the reins of government in 
England, and Hon. Francis Fauquier to the governorship of Vir- 
ginia, it was resolved to prosecute the war against the French with 
energy. Gen. Forbes was appointed to the command of an expedi- 
tion against Fort DuquesDe. The force was divided into two regi- 
ments, the first division of 2,000 under Col. Washington, and the 
other under Col. Byrd. In July, Washington marched from Win- 
chester to Fort Cumberland with the main portion of the Virginia 
troops. The whole force comprised about 6,000 troops, of all arms. 
Much time was consumed in preliminary arrangements by Gen. 
Forbes, particularly in the construction of a new road to Fort Du- 
quesne. Washington advised a movement at once, and if his recom- 
mendations had been heeded an easy victory would have ensued, for 
it was afterward ascertained that only 800 soldiers were garrisoning 
the French fort at that time. The construction of a fort at Loyal 
Hanna also detained the expedition uselessly, for the English, had 
they pushed on, might have then been in charge of Fort Duquesne. 
Col. Boquet rashly detached Maj. Grant with 800 men to reconnoitre 
in the vicinity of the enemy. The French permitted Grant's party 
to approach them as near as they desired, when they rushed from the 
fort, soldiers and Indians, and attacked them from all sides, putting 
the English to flight, and with great slaughter. No quarter was 
given by the Indians, and Majors Grant and Lewis only saved their 
lives by surrendering to French officers. Maj. Lewis had come to 
the assistance of Grai t upon hearing the firing in his front. He 



118 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

left Capt. Bullett, with the baggage and fifty men in his rear, and it 
is owing to the extraordinary presence of mind and strategy of that 
officer that the entire force did not fall beneath the strokes of the 
tomahawk and scalping knives of the brutal savages. The situation 
of the retreating troops was desperate. In the enemy's country, far 
from any English settlement, surrounded and pursued by a bloody 
and vindictive foe, there was nothing left for them but to await cap- 
ture and the tortures of the howling red demons. But the heroism 
of Capt. Bullett and his few men saved most of the retreating force. 
This officer on discovering the rout of the troops, sent the most 
valuable portion of the baggage to his rear, and arranged the re- 
mainder in the road so as to present as formidable an appearance as 
possible. He then posted his men behind this breastwork and made 
as great parade as he could by giving loud orders for the main force 
to hasten up. These preparations somewhat checked the advance of 
the eager Indians, but fearing that the enemy would shortly discover 
his false position, Capt. Bullett resolved to try a piece of strategy 
that could result in nothing worse than what would be their fate if 
they remained where they were. He ordered his men to march for- 
ward with reversed arms, as though about to surrender, which they did, 
and the savages ceased firing, feeling sure of their prey. When Bul- 
lett and his men had advanced to a position indicated previously, they 
threw up their rifles as quick as a flash and poured such a deadly 
volley into the surprised Indians that they fled in dismay, thinking 
that the whole English army was upon them. The Captain, taking 
advantage of this state of affairs, after gathering up the wounded, 
wisely fled in another direction with as much speed as the Indians. 
This gallant action of a provincial captain, one of the most remark- 
able pieces of strategy performed by any one in any age, emphasizes 
the fact that the Caucasian is the master race, and can beat the In- 
dian or any similar savage at his own game. 

After more consultation it was concluded to permit Washington to 
draw up a line of march to Fort Duquesne, which he did, and at his 
own request he was to be placed in the advance with 1,000 men. No- 
vember having set in, it was resolved not to make any movement till 
the ensuing spring, but two deserters having been brought to camp, 
who related that the French garrison was weak, immediate measures 
were taken for an advance, and November 25, 1758, Fort Duquesne 
was in possession of Washington. Very little, however, of the fort 



FEEDERICK COUNTY. 119 

was left, but it was rebuilt and rechristened Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh. 
The other French strongholds were soon in the possession of the 
English, and peace was declared. Washington in the meantime (fall 
of 1758) proceeded to Williamsburg, to take his seat as a member of 
the General Assembly from Frederick County, the people of this lower 
valley of the Shenandoah, comprising at that time what is now Fred- 
erick, Berkeley, Jefferson, Clark, Shenandoah, Morgan, Warren and 
Page Counties, having done themselves the splendid honor of electing 
that grand patriot and illustrious citizen to represent them. This 
same year Washington led to the altar the beautiful, accomplished and 
wealthy Mrs. Custis, and shortly after settled down to the life of a 
farmer of ease and culture, until the bugle blasts of his aroused coun- 
trymen called him forth from the shades of Mount Vernon to lead 
them in their contest for liberty and independence. 

Washington ran three times in the county of Frederick for the 
Hou-^e of Burgesses. The writer has in his possession the names of 
the candidates who ran with or opposed Washington, together with 
the names of every voter at those three elections, but space forbids 
the publication of the poll-lists in this connection ; suffice it to say, 
that although these lists were obtained from an entirely different 
source from which the general matter herein contained emanates, yet 
there is scarcely a misspelling of a single name, when compared to 
the frequent appearance of the same names in the official records of 
Frederick County. G. Washington ran the jBrst time in 1757 and was 
defeated, as will be seen by the following vote: 

Hugh West, 271; Thomas Swearengen, 270; G. Washington, 40. 
The young man was snowed under that trip, but he had " staying 
qualities," as the horsemen say. It would not have been in accord- 
ance with the character of the man to let a first defeat clip his wings 
and send him ingloriously moping away at the ingratitude of poli- 
ticians. Oh, no! That would not have been George; so two years 
hence he steps to the front and receives the reward of his indomitable 
perseverance, when somebody else is snowed under. Two of the can- 
didates only could be elected, no matter how many ran. Here is the 
vote: 

July 24, 1758.— G. Washington, 310; Col. T. B. Martin, 240; 
Hugh West, 199; Thomas Swearengen, 45. 

Becoming still more popular, as the result shows, he ran again May 
18, 1761, with the following result: G. Washington, 505; George 
Mercer, 399; Adam Stephen, 294. 



120 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

There is a receipt in the possession of a citizen of Winchester, 
signed by the seller of a barrel of whisky to George Washington, in 
payment for said barrel, which was used during one of these elections. 
The future " father of his country " may have discovered between his 
defeat in 1757 and the election one year afterward, that it was nec- 
essary to " set 'em up " for the boys, and hence his increased popu- 
larity. 

Peace having been restored, at least between the French and 
English, the colonists breathed freer, although for many years after- 
ward the Indians committed numerous outrages upon the advanced 
settlements, and even making raids into the very heart of the valley, 
yet Winchester took a fresh start. Clerk Wood sold a number of lots, 
and various businesses sprang up. Philip Helphenstine, who "was 
afterward a major in Col. Muhlenburg's regiment in the Revolution- 
ary army, purchased a lot in the town, and resided here till his death. 
His lot was " No. 34, on the east side of Cameron Street, together 
with another containing five acres on the common." He paid £25 
(1125) for the whole outfit. Philip Bush, another Revolutionary sol- 
dier, who kept a tavern here during the French revolution, and who 
snubbed the crown prince, afterward Louis Phillippe, at his hostelry, 
and of whom more hereafter, was made overseer of Cameron Street. 
At the July court, 1758, John Greenfield was appointed overseer of 
the following streets: Loudon, Cameron and Piccadilly. Matters 
must have been progressing with fine strides, for the old records state 
that John Allen opened a tailor shop, and that Stephen Rollins was 
arrested for permitting gambling at his tavern; also John Stewart, 
inn-keeper, for permitting card-playing at his inn. A number of new 
licenses were issued to various parties to keep taverns ; so that there 
could not have been at that early date, 1758, less than from twelve to 
fifteen establishments where liquor was sold, which places the modern 
Winchester, in quite a favorable light, morally, and shows that the 
present generation has not absorbed all the vice that ever existed. 

As a sample of what was kept in stores at that date for the accom- 
modation of the ladies who would go shopping on Braddock and Bos- 
cowen Streets, as they now do on Loudon any fine day, the following 
inventory of a portion of the stock of Alexander Cook, merchant, May 
5, 1758, is giA'en. These goods were attached and sold for debt: 
"One piece of flesh-colored broadcloth; a remnant of worsted damask; 
two remnants of shaloon ; a remnant of buckram ; a remnant of cheque ; 



FKEDEKICK COUNTY. 121 

two beaver hats ; a remnant of calico ; one piece of cotton truck ; one 
piece brown fustion; one remnant of brown broadcloth; one scarlet 
mantle; a bundle of laces; sundry pieces of tape and bobbin and hanks 
of silk; some small necklaces; sundry small trifling goods; one old 
breasted saddle." 

The county also began assuming airs, for at the March, 1758, sit- 
ting of the justices, that body ordered a silver seal to be made by 
William Miller, "about the size of an English half-crown, with the 
words Frederick County engraved thereon."* This outlay of the peo- 
ple's money, was no doiibt thought to be justifiable, in consequence of 
the increase in population, for about this time the assessors, or tith- 
able list takers, brought in their reports, which showed that there were 
in the entire region comprising Frederick County, extensive as it was, 
the grand total of 2,124 tithables! 

James Wood, in September, 1758, obtained permission by an act 
of the General Assembly, to enlarge the town, a portion of which re- 
cites that "Whereas, by an act of assembly, made in the twenty-fifth 
year of his present majesty's reign, a town was established at Win- 
chester, in the said county of Frederick, which daily increases in in- 
habitants, and James Wood of said county, gentleman, having laid off 
one hundred and six acres of his land, contiguous to the said town of 
Winchester, into lots and streets, hath petitioned," etc., for the same 
privileges granted the other portions of the town, "it is hereby 
granted," etc. The trustees named in the act were Lord Fairfax, James 
Wood, Thomas Bryan Martin, Lewis Stephens, Gabriel Jones, John 
Hite, John Dooe, Isaac Perkins, Robert Rutherford and Philip Bush. 
Several of these gentlemen were also interested in the town of Steph- 
ensburg, which was established at this date, and of which more here 
after. February, 1759, Lord Fairfax having made application to the 
General Assembly to put an addition to Winchester, that body author- 
ized him to lay off 173 lots, to "be added to and made part of said 
town, and to enjoy the same rights, privileges, and immunities that 
.the freeholders and inhabitants of the said Winchester do now enjoy," 

During the summer of 1759 the small-pox made its appearance in 
Winchester and many deaths occurred from that terrible disease, and 
to such an extent did it rage, that the justices were compelled to apply 
for the privilege of adjourning to some other locality. The following 

* This old seal is still in tlie possession of the county clerk of Frederick, is used now, and has 
been used ever since it was made, one hinidred and thirty-two years ago. 



122 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

minute of the proceedings tells the tale: "July 3, 1759. — A writ of 
adjournment was obtained from Gov. Fauquier which orders that the 
sherifp give public notice by advertisement that the court will be held 
in the town of Stephensburg during the time the small pox rageth in 
the town of Winchester." But the disease also extended to Stephens- 
burg, whilst it must have abated, or disappeared, from Winchester 
by the fall months, for on October 3, "sundry of the inhabitants of 
the town of Winchester" made petition to the court for its return to 
that place, as the "small pox was raging at Stephensburgh," but it 
seems the court had no power to remove its seat of justice, that privi- 
lege being vested in His Excellency at Williamsburg, for no atten- 
tion was paid to the petition, the court continuing to meet at the latter 
town till the following spring, or rather it adjourned from time to 
time, and did not hold sessions at all, for there are no records from 
October till February following (1760). On April 1, however, the 
justices petitioned tlie governor to order the court back to the court 
house at Winchester. May (3 the writ of adjournment was received, 
and the court has continued to meet where it now does till the present 
time. 

Col. James Wood, the old clerk, who had seen the organization of 
the county in 1743, and who laid out Winchester that year, died dur- 
ing the winter of 1759-(30, and at the court held February 5, 1760, 
Archibald AVager was appointed clerk by Deputy Secretary Nelson. 
Col. Wood left a son, James Wood, Jr., who. May 7, was appointed 
deputy clerk. He became one of the leading citizens of Frederick 
County, was a justice for a number of years, and served in the Revo- 
lution as colonel of a regiment which he was instrumental in raising. 
He also became a general in the Revolutionary Army, and in 1791 was 
elected governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Archibald Wager only served as clerk about two years, for on 
May 4, 1762, James Keith produced a commission from the secretary 
of the colony, and Clerk Wager stepped down and out. Keith filled 
the position for many years, going along in the even tenor of his way 
during the Revolution, and far beyond, as though nothing unusual 
were happening. He changed his "Our Sovereign Lord the King" 
into "His Excellency the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia" 
with an ease that was as creditable to his patriotism as to his pro- 
ficiency. 

At November court, 1762, Daniel Bush, Robert Rutherford, George 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 123 

Michael Laubinger and Robert Aldridge wei'e appointed overseers of 
the streets in "Winchester, in the room of Philip Bush, Godfrey Hum- 
bert, Bryan Bruin and Edward McGuire. The justices also "ordered 
that Charles Smith and Daniel Bush do agree with some one to finish 
the Ducking Stool." A porch was ordered to be built to the court 
house and "7,200 pounds of tobacco" was appropriated for that pur- 
pose. In connection with one of the names given above the writer 
hereof found between the leaves of one of the old record books an 
order for goods at a store in Winchester. It is written upon a small 
piece of paper, such as was used at that primitive day, is time-worn 
and looks decidedly ancient. It reads: 

To Robert Rutherford, Esquire: 

Sir, Please let the Bearer have credit to the am't of 25s. and charge the same to 

Your Humble Servant's acct., 
Nov. 2, 1761. Henry Heth. 

Henry Heth kept a tavern, where Washington mostly stayed whilst 
in Winchester, and Rutherford was one of, if not the first, merchants 
in the valley of Virginia. Thomas Edmonson, in 1764, kept a tavern 
in Winchester, and was in the same business as late as 1789, as his 
advertisement appears in a newspaper of that date. He kept opposite 
the Old Fort on Loudon Street. William Greenway, the maternal 
grandfather of Mr. William Greenway Russell, of Winchester, who is 
now ninety years of age, died in 1767. He came to America at the 
same time Lord Fairfax did, and knew Daniel Morgan well, they liv- 
ing in the same section of the county. November 1, 1768, Philip 
Pendleton was appointed deputy clerk of the court. At this date the 
tithables had increased to 4,088, and in 1771, to 5,406. In this year 
the small-pox again broke out, and John McDonald and Humphrey 
Wells were permitted to practice " innoculation," that medical discov- 
ery having reached America not long before. William Gibbs, Isaac 
Hite and Andrew Waggoner were also permitted to practice the new 
process, but the justices doubtless thought there was a limit to the 
matter, and when Charles Mynn Thruston, Thomas Byran Martin, 
Feilding Lewis and Samuel Washington, all gentlemen of high station, 
applied for permission to inoculate their families, they were peremto- 
rily refused and given to understand that they (the justices) did not 
•consider the families of the petitioners in any danger, and to cap the 
climax, revoked the licenses of Drs. McDonald and AVells. Those old 
justices thought they knew a thing or two, and did not propose to let 



124 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

anybody but themselves run this section of the valley, either judicially,, 
socially, militarily or medically. 

April 7, 1772, Angus McDonald and Edward McGuire were ordered 
to agree with some person to build a bridge over the run on Main 
Street, and December 10, 1773, Frederick Conrad was appointed over- 
seer of Cameron Street, and the cross streets and back streets to the 
eastward of Cameron Street in Winchester, in the room of Philip Bush. 
The small-pox must again have broken out in Winchester, for in the 
spring of 1776 Angus McDonald was ordered to place a guard around 
the house in that toAvn " where the small-pox is raging." Shortly after- 
ward David Kennedy was paid £69 8s. 5d. for his trouble and expense 
in preventing the spread of the disease named, and another sum (£7 
17s. 6d.) for allowance. The foregoing chapter contains all the mat- 
ters of importance and items of interest that are now upon record in 
an authentic manner, in relation to Winchester up to the year 1776. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE REVOLUTIONAEY PERIOD AND MORGAN. 

Soldiers of the Valley— Causes of the Revolution— OrpRESsiONS of 
THE Mother Country— Bursting of the Storm— Origin of General 
Daniel Morgan: His Boyhood; as a Wagoner; Whipped by Brad- 
dock's Order; First Recorded Mention; Arrested for Assault; as 
A Farmer; as Overseer of Roads; His First Military Appointment; 
AS A Custodian ; His First Command— The Famous Valley Company 
—The Dutch Mess— Storming of Quebec— Muhlenburg and Hel- 
PHENSTiNE— First Court Under the New Regime— The Quakers- 
Taking THE Oath— Saratoga— CowPENS— Col. William Augustine 
Washington— The Whisky Insurrection— Morgan in Congress— His- 
Character— His Grave— The " Stonewall " of the Revolution. 

THE Shenandoah Valley from the very first settlement of that de- 
lightful "garden spot," as it has frequently been called, has been 
known for its hardy, adventurous and brave population. It has always 
turned out, when the occasion demanded, its full quota of troops, and 
many of its sons have become famous in the annals of all the wars in 
which the country has been engaged. It has furnished not only thous- 
ands of the rank and file of the best soldiers who ever shouldered 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 125 

musket or handled sabre, but has produced an array of leaders whose 
ability in warfare and whose name and fame may be found in the 
pages of history, and whose memories will live as long as courage and 
capacity shall have place as conspicuous virtues in the mind of man. 
In the very earliest contests with the wily and relentless savages, 
whose business was warfare and whose entire life was made up of 
bloody affrays, and the pursuit of wild animals, the pioneers of the 
valley were more than a match for them ; they could conquer them on 
their own ground, and were never known to yield to the proudest war- 
riors of the red race wher* they were not outnumbered, two or three 
to one. All praise is due to those hardy old heroes who came out 
from the midst of the comforts and even luxuries of civilization to 
build up and make blossom this beautiful valley, wherein their chil- 
dren and children's children might dwell in peace and plenty, sur- 
rounded by smiling fields and lowing herds. Too much praise cannot 
be given — too much honor cannot be paid — to the old pioneer who, 
with his rifle on his shoulder and ax in hand, shot and hewed his way 
through heart of savage as well as heart of oak, to the wilderness, 
which soon gave token of his presence by the curling column of 
smoke from his cabin chimney and the ringing strokes of his keen- 
edged ax. The true lover of the grand and great can never pass the 
grave of one of those sturdy old henchmen of civilization without lift- 
ing his hat to, or dropping a tear upon, the mouldering dust tliat 
covers his last resting place. 

In the French and Indian wars the valley furnished the most of 
the soldiers who fought upon the Ohio, and were principally influen- 
tial under the gallant young Virginian — Washington — in bringing to 
a victorious close that disastrous struggle, and even after a famous 
English general, backed by experienced English regulars, had been 
ignominiously defeated, put to flight and killed. It may be sup- 
posed, therefore, if she would send her young men to the front for 
kings and the upholding of royalty, that the valley would not be be- 
hind when the tocsin of war sounded for "liberty and independence," 
and nobly did she respond to the call — gallantly did she uphold her 
ancient prestige. 

It is not within the compass of this work to go into the details of 
the Revolutionary war, but merely to touch upon such facts as are 
connected with the lower valley, inclusive, of course, of those who took 
an active part therein; whose names have been preserved from the 



126 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

ravages of time and forgetfulness, yet a few of the causes leading up 
to that important internecine struggle may not be uuinstructive. 

From the earliest settlements in America to the period of the Rev- 
olution, the parent country, so far as her own unsettled state would 
permit, pursued toward those settlements a course of direct oppres- 
sion. She simply held possession of the country through what she 
claimed as the " right of discovery," and had precisely the same 
reason to so claim it as the Indians would have had to claim the Brit- 
ish Isles if they had sailed across the ocean in their birch canoes, and, 
landing on the coast of England, set up their wigwams at Liverpool 
and cut a " tomahawk right " on the buildings from that city to Lon- 
don, and so on down to Dover and up to Edinburgh and Cork. She 
paid not a penny to the aborigines for their land, but hundreds of 
thousands of pounds were expended from the private purses of the 
colonists in payment for their estates. True, the generous monarchs 
made large grants to favorites, but they gave away that which did not 
belong to them. AVithout the enterprise to establish colonies herself, 
she was ready, in the very dawn of their existence, to claim them as 
her legitimate possessions, and to prescribe in almost every minute 
particular the policy they should pursue. No sooner did the colonies, 
emerging from the feebleness and poverty of their incipient state, be- 
gin to direct their attention to commerce and manufactures than they 
were were subjected by the parent country to many vexatious regula- 
tions, which seemed to indicate that with regard to those subjects they 
were expected to follow that line of policy which she, in her wisdom, 
should mark out for them. At every indication of colonial prosperity 
the complaints of the commercial and the manufacturing interests in 
Great Britain were loud and clamorous, and demands were made upon 
the government to correct the evil, and to keep the colonies in due 
subjection. " Keep them down," said the English manufacturers, 
" they will soon be our formidable rivals; they are already setting up 
manufactures, and they will soon set up for independence." English 
writers vied with each other in insisting on the crown preventing the 
building of ships and engaging in the fisheries' trade by the colonists. 
One writer. Dr. Davenant, said, "Colonies are a strength to the mother 
country while they are under good discipline, but otherwise they are 
worse than useless, being like offensive arms lopped from the nation, 
to be turned against it, as occasion may require." Acts were passed 
restricting trade with the colonies to English-built vessels, belonging 



FKEDERICK COUNTY. 127 

to subjects of England. They even limited the import trade. They 
were deprived of seeking the best markets for their products, and were 
taxed heavily on nearly all goods sent from the colonies. The New 
England provinces were making serious inroads on the trade from 
England, and a law was passed prohibiting (to mention one article) 
hats being sent out of the colonies to foreign countries, or even from 
one colony to another. Ship loads of convicts were vomited upon the 
shores of the helpless colonies, and their rights were trampled upon 
in a thousand ways. In 1750 parliament prohibited the erection or 
continuance of any " mill, or other engine for slitting or rolling iron, 
or any plating forge to work with a tilt hammer, or any furnace for 
making steel, in the colonies under the penalty of two hundred pounds." 
Moreover, such mills, etc., were declared common nuisances and must 
be abated by the governors of the colonies. These were strokes at 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, as the above were strokes at the New 
England provinces. Is it any wonder, then, that when, in addition 
to those oppressive laws, the infamous " stamp act " was hurled into 
the teeth of the long-suffering colonists, and troops were garrisoning 
Boston harbor to watch and spy out any infraction of his majesty's 
mandates and to promptly suppress any outcroppings of freedom, 
that the storm burst forth with a fury that was then beyond the 
control of powerful England to abate, and that shortly swept in its 
rage every vestige of royalty and its accompanying injustice from 
out the entire thirteen colonies ! 

The volcano having at last shot into flame, the colonists at once 
sprang to arms, and although 600 miles intervened between them 
and the initial scene of the conflict, yet the Lower Shenandoah Valley 
raised, equipped and sent forward to Washington at Boston two of the 
first companies to reach that illustrious leader. One of those com- 
panies was in command of a man whose history is so wonderful, and 
yet so little known, that he merits special mention in these pages. 
This man was Daniel Morgan, and although biographies almost with- 
out number have been written of that famous leader, yet not a single 
writer of those works, it is safe to say, has ever examined the records 
of the county in which he lived and died, and where only exist any- 
thing in regard to his ante-Revolutionary life. The writer hereof has 
examined the pages of the old order books of the justices of Frederick 
County from 1743 onward, and is gratified to state that he has found 
the first extant recorded mention, with a number of others, all showing 



128 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

the character, habits, mode of life and gradual evolution from obscurity 
to honor and fame, of the noted general whose presence and whose 
stentorian voice filled his soldiers with patriotic valor and carried con- 
sternation into the ranks of his enemy. But before giving this 
recorded history of Morgan, some interesting facts in regard to his 
origin and early life will be mentioned. 

Mr. William G. Russell, who was born in Winchester in the year 
1800, and who is, consequently, about ninety years of age, whose 
faculties are well preserved and who is and has been a man of acute 
observation, has furnished the writer considerable information on 
many points, both from hearsay and personal knowledge, and among 
other things says that his grandmother Green way knew Daniel Mor- 
gan when he was a boy, and that she had often talked about him. 
William Greenway was the husband of this lady, and it is said came 
to this country from Scotland with Lord Fairfax. Mrs. Greenway 
lived near what is now the little village of Nineveh, now in Warren 
County, and she said that Daniel Morgan's father also lived near that 
place. The family consisted of the father, mother, a sister older 
than Daniel, and Daniel himself. Mrs. Greenway had often been 
to the house, and said that the elder Morgan was a quiet, silent- 
dispositioned man; that he had a small farm and also a distillery. 
No one knew definitely where the Morgans came from, but it 
seemed to be the impression that they had emigrated from New Jer- 
sey. " He Avas a large, good-natured lad," Mrs. Greenway said 
of Daniel, and although not over fond of work, yet when he set 
about it, could do as much almost as two young fellows of his 
age, and although not particularly quarrelsome, seemed to be in his 
element when he did get into a fracas, and was never known to get 
the worst in a fight, except where they doubled or trebled him, as 
appears from a case on the old records where he has three men, evi- 
dently brothers, arrested for assault and battery upon himself. His 
assailants were named Davis. As he grew up he worked at anything 
on the plantations where he could get employment, and by the time 
he was twenty years old was a wagoner, and it is thought, although 
there is no authentic information in regard to the matter, that he was 
with Braddock as a driver of pack-horses or of a wagon in the cele- 
brated defeat. But it is more than likely that he was one of the 
obscure privates in one of the companies that accompanied the unfor- 
tunate general and his regulars, and may have been one of those brave 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 129 

militiamen who saved the army from entire annihilation. This idea 
is more in consonance with the character of Daniel Morgan, for he 
was just twenty years old at the time, a hardy, brave adventurous 
spirit, an expert rifleman, and just the kind of a young fellow, as his 
course afterward exhibited, to be the first to enlist in any hazardous 
undertaking. In connection with his supposed service under Brad- 
dock tradition relates, and Howe repeats, a story of his being whipped, 
thus: "Morgan had charge of wagons transporting baggage. An 
officer came out and asked him why the wagons were not ready for the 
march. He replied that he had been delayed, but would have them 
ready as soon as possible. The officer replied if he did not hurry he 
would run him through with his sword. Morgan gave a tart reply, 
and the other fell into a passion and made a lunge at him with his 
sword. The latter parried the blow with a heavy wagon whip, broke 
the sword and gave the officer a severe drubbing. A court-martial 
sentenced him to receive five hundred lashes. After receiving four 
hundred and fifty of them Morgan fainted, and was allowed to go free. 
The officer, afterward becoming convinced of his error, asked Mor- 
gan's pardon." Morgan is also made the hero of several fights and 
skirmishes with Indians about this time, 1755 to 1757, which may 
be true, but there is no evidence extant at this date to confirm them. 

One of the first items among the proceedings of the court of jus- 
tices for Frederick County held May 3, 1758, is the following case: 
Thomas Conner ) 

vs. > In Tresi^.-Assm & Batfy. 

Daniel Morgan. ) 
The Deft, being arrested and failing to appear, judgement is granted 

against him, and Elijah Isaacs, his bail, for what damages the 

Pltf. hath sustained, unless the said Deft, appear at next court and 

answer the said action. 

Th^s is, undoubtedly, the first recorded mention of that redoubta- 
ble soldier — that "thunderbolt of war" — the famous Revolutionary 
patriot, General Daniel Morgan. He was then twenty-three years 
of age and was noted as an athlete, a boxer and a wrestler. It is alto- 
gether probable that he frequented Winchester a great deal, as it 
doubtless afforded him employment in teaming goods from Pennsyl- 
vania and Maryland to that incipient city. He was over six feet in 
height, splendidly built, wonderfully agile and as strong as it was pos- 
sible for a man of his magnificent proportions to be, whilst he had no 
more conception of fear than a lion. Just what Mr. Thomas Conner, 



130 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

the plaintiff in the above case, did to raise the ire of tliat brawny,, 
double-fisted giant, is difficult guess-work at this late day, but it is 
easy to imagine the result, if Daniel did his work as well then as he 
afterward did on the braggart Tarleton at the Cowpens. 

For several years succeeding the last date Morgan figures as de- 
fendant in numerous cases of assault and battery, but in nearly every 
instance the case is dismissed ; in one or two, however, he is fined 
pretty heavily. He only appears once as plaintiff in any suit. This 
was against William, John and George Davis, for assaulting him. 
These parties were doubtless brothers, and as they, possibly, could 
not handle the stalwart fellow singly, all three of them went at him. 

But he seems to be emerging from his "wild oats" state, for after 
1764-65 no more suits are recorded against him, and in place of those 
disgraceful items is to be found the following, in the proceedings of 
the justices, November 4, 1766: "Ordained that Daniel Morgan be 
overseer of the road from Combs' Ferry to the forks leading in to 
Winchester," In the meantime he became possessed of a farm, possi- 
bly by the death of his father, for on July 7, 1767, he obtained the 
receipt of a constable for 728 pounds of hemp raised by himself, the 
county paying a premium on that commodity to encourage its pro- 
duction. November 7, 1770, he is still further recognized as a citizen 
worthy of filling a public trust, for it must be remembered that at the 
date named, and to the present time, for that matter, none but good 
and true men were selected as overseers of roads. This entry tells 
the tale: "Ordered that Daniel Morgan be overseer of the road from 
Cunningham's chapel to Lord Fairfax's." Now this was an important 
road, for it led from the residence of his lordship to the house of 
worship wherein he would weekly make his peace with his maker; so- 
Daniel was selected, as Lord Thomas doubtless knew from his exper- 
ience as chief of the justices, that whatever Morgan attempted to do 
he always did well. 

But here are two entries in the old records that bore wonderful 
fruit : 

" May 7, 1771. Col. Samuel Washington having been commis- 
sioned colonel of the militia of Frederick County, appeared before- 
the Justices and took the usual oaths of allegiance to his majesty's per- 
son and government." 

And three days after this entry appears the following: 

"May 10,1771. — Daniel Morgan having been summoned, appeared 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 133^ 

before the Justices and took the usual oaths to his majesty's person 
and government and was sworn Captain in the militia of Frederick 
County." 

This is the starting point in the military career of Gen. Morgan, 
whose qualities must have been known to Col. Washington, that he 
should have selected him as one of his captains, over the many ambi- 
tious young men of his own grade in society, for it must be remem- 
bered that the station of the wealthy and influential Washingtons of 
the valley was quite different from that occupied by the obscure 
Daniel Morgan. And what a source of infinite pride it must have- 
been to this afterward distinguished colonel to reflect that he had 
been the first to recognize the abilities of this great commander when 
but an humble farmer over yonder near the brawling Shenandoah. 

As an evidence of the acknowledged determination, physical 
power, and skill in dealing with dangerous characters, the following 
minute is given from the court proceedings of September 10, 177 3^ 
from which it appears that a noted criminal had escaped from Mary- 
land, had taken refuge in the valley, and had been recaptured: "It 
is ordered that Daniel Morgan carry Timothy Ragan, a felon, who- 
broke the gaol of Anne Arundel Co., Md., and deliver him to the 
sheriff of said county, and bring in his account of expenses at laying 
of the parish levy." At the laying of the levy the following month 
he was paid the sum of £6 2s. 8d. Morgan in this same year is- 
shown to be the possessor of not only a farm, but the owner of a 
number of slaves, as his name figures in a document on record where- 
in is recited among other property, "several of my negroes," and his 
identity appears for the last time in the colonial county records in a 
suit for £60 instituted by " Cochrane & Co., plaintiffs, against Mor- 
gan and others, defendants." This was in March, 1774. The next 
year, fall of 1775, he raised his famous company of riflemen, and 
marched to the front. 

Washington, having been made commander-in-chief of the Ameri- 
can army, and receiving his commission June 15, 1775, immediately- 
set about organizing order out of the chaos that existed throughout 
the colonies. He repaired to Boston and called for troops to come to- 
that point, armed and equipped, if possible. Capt. Daniel Morgan, as. 
soon as he learned the need of the commander, applied for a commis- 
sion to serve in the Continental army, and upon its receipt, in tei> 
days thereafter, he attracted to himself a company of ninety-six young: 

9 



134 HISTOllY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

and enthusiastic men. No leader ever headed braver sokliers; his 
very presence commanded obedience and respect, for his men saw in 
their captain one vipon whom they coukl rely. Their rendezvous was 
Winchester for most of them, but others joined him on the way to the 
Potomac and at the first halting place for the night. The company 
was officered as follows: Captain, Daniel Morgan; first lieutenant, 
John Humphrey; second lieutenant, William Heth; first sergeant, 
George Porterfi'eld. Among those whose names are preserved as be- 
longing to the company as privates are: George Greenway, William 
Green way, Setli Stratton, John Schultz, Jacob Sperry, Peter Lauck, 
Simon Lauck, Frederick Kurtz, Adam Kurtz, Charles Grim, George 
Heiskell, Robert Anderson, William Ball and Mark Hays. Six of 
these formed what has been known as the DidcJi Mess. They were all 
Germans and messed together during the entire war, and singular to 
say, not one of them met with any disaster during all their severe cam- 
paigns with Morgan, and several of them lived to a great age. The 
descendants of all of them are among the most respected citizens of 
the valley, several of whom were gallant soldiers in all the wars in 
which this country has been engaged since their honored ancestors 
trod the snows of Quebec and went south with Morgan. The names 
of the six were, according to Mr. W. G. Russell, who personally knew 
several of them: Peter Lauck, Simon Lauck, Frederick Kurtz, John 
Schultz, Charles Grim and Jacob Sperry. This company, on foot and 
accompanied by one wagon, left Winchester July 14, 1775, and camped 
the first night at the spring on the plantation of Col. William Morgan, 
grandfather of Col. William A. Morgan, near Shepherdstown. Pur- 
suing their way the next morning, they arrived at Cambridge, Mass., 
August 7, and were received by the soldiers already collected there 
with demonstrations of the wildest joy, for it gave them to understand 
that even away off, six hundred miles, in the valley of Virginia, the 
fires of freedom burned as fiercely as it did right in the midst of Eng- 
lish injustice and invasion. It is also said that when Washington saw 
Morgan's company, travel-stained and almost worn out with fatigue, 
and recognized a number of them, he was overcome by his feelings 
and wept as he took them by the hand. After a short rest the com- 
pany was ordered to join the army of Arnold in its invasion of Can- 
ada. Arriving in the vicinity of Quebec, Capt. Morgan reported to 
Gen. Montgomery. It was in December, and the intense cold caused 
great suffering to the Americans. The English garrison consisted 



FREDERICK OOUNTY> 135 

of about 1,500 well-fed, well-clothed and well -protected troops, whilst 
the force of Montgomery numbered only 800. Having divided this 
small array into four detachments, the General ordered two feints 
to be made against the upper town. On the 31st of December, 1775, 
at 4 o'clock in the morning, in the midst of a heavy snow storm, 
the columns were put in motion. Montgomery, with his detach- 
ment of 200, passed the first barrier, but when attacking the 
second was killed, and his division fell back. Arnold, being severely 
wounded, was carried off the field, yet his party, placed under 
the command of Capt. Morgan, contended against the works for over 
three hours, until overpowered by superior numbers they were forced 
to surrender. One hundred of the Americans were killed and three 
hundred taken prisoners, including Morgan. This virtually ended the 
Canadian campaign, the death of Montgomery having a very depress- 
ing effect upon his army. 

Morgan, who in the meantime had been promoted to the position 
of major in his regiment, after nearly five months' captivity, returned 
to the Northern army and was advanced to a colonelcy. Rev. Peter 
Muhlenburg, a clergyman, who had gone with Morgan's company as 
chaplain, at the storming of Quebec threw off his ministerial robes 
and fought by the side of his captain. This " fighting parson," as he 
was frequently called by his friends, being captured with his com- 
mand, returned, upon his release, and raised a regiment, he having 
been commissioned colonel of the Eighth Virginia; his lieutenant- 
colonel was Abraham Bowman', and his major, Peter Helphenstine, of 
Winchester. This regiment was ordered to Charleston, S. C, where 
they arrived on June 24, 1776, having covered the entire distance on 
foot and without a tent. After the battle of Charleston, Muhlenburg 
returned to the valley, filled up his decimated ranks and went north 
and joined Washington. The southern climate made sad havoc in 
Muhlenburg's regiment, and many of the men died. Maj. Helphen- 
stine was one of the victims, and died in Winchester in the fall of 
1776. Upon his arrival at the northern field of action, Muhlenburg 
was made a brigadier-general, and Bowman, colonel. 

During all these commotions the wheels of government were mov- 
ing along as smoothly in the valley districts as though war was an 
affair of small moment, and only for a short time were the proceedings 
of the justices interrupted during the transition from monarchy to 
republicanism. May 7, 1776, a short session was held, and that was the 



136 HISTOEY OF THE LOWEE SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

last under the patronage of " Our Sovereign Lord George III, by the 
Grace of God, King, etc.," for the next was held "by the grace of 
God " under the influence of another George, who had Washington to 
his name. There was no session of the court in June or July, but 
August 6, 1776, that body convened, under the new regime, the glori- 
ous " Commonwealth of Virginia," and the following are the pro- 
ceedings : 

"Present: John Hite, Isaac Hite, Charles Mynn Thruston, John 
McDonald, John Smith, Edmund Taylor. 

" An ordinance of the Honorable, the Convention of the Common- 
wealth of Virginia, directing that the different members named in the 
former Commission of the Peace, should continue to act in the said 
office upon their taking the oath prescribed in the said ordinance. 
Whereupon Isaac Hite and Charles Mynn Thruston administered 
the oath to John Hite, who took and subscribed the same, and then 
the said John Hite administered the said oath to all the aforesaid 
members, who took the same as Justices of the said Commonwealth, 

" James Keith took the oath as Clerk of the Court. 

" Henry Peyton, Jr., took the oath as Deputy Clerk of the Court. 

" Angus McDonald took the oath as Sheriff. 

" Nathaniel Cai'tmell, Jr., took the oath as Deputy Sheriff. 

" Gabriel Jones, Alexander White, George Roots, Dolphin Drew, 
John Magill and Henry Peyton, Jr., took the oath as attorneys." 

These are the old patriots who stepped up in those trying times 
and " showed their colors." His lordship of Fairfax failed to respond, 
although he was at the head of the justices; but let us not be too 
hard on the old gentleman, for it must be remembered that he was 
raised under the wing of royalty, had received his wealth and station 
from kings, was nearly ninety years of age and was nearing his last 
days upon earth, and it was hard for him to cut loose from his ancient 
moorings and join a cause that must have seemed to him extremely 
hopeless of success. Yet, with all his rooted and preconceived prin- 
ciples of the divine right of kings, and all his wealth, he never was 
known to throw a straw in the onward path of American liberty. And 
when he heard of the triumph of Washington at Yorktown and the 
downfall of English rule in the colonies, he simply remarked that it 
was time for him to die, went to bed, and never arose again therefrom. 

At the next court Isaac Zane came forward and subscribed to the 
oath as a justice. The following also appears as a portion of the pro- 
ceedings: 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 137 

" Ordered, That Marquis Calmes, Kobert Wood, William Gibbs, 
Philip Bush, Robert White, Joseph Holmes, Thomas Helm, Edward 
McGuire, and Edward Smith, be recommended to His Excellency the 
Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, as proper persons to be 
added to the Commission of the Peace, for this county, and that it be 
certified that Charles Smith, one of the members in the commission, 
is dead; William Booth refused to swear in, and desired to be left 
out; Warner Washington, Jr., after he did swear in, did not chuse to 
act and desired to be left out; and that Thomas Bryan Martin never 
did swear in to the said commission." 

They seemed to be hunting the Tories in this section at a pretty 
lively gait; a number of arrests occurred and among such cases was 
that of Samuel Glenn. At November court this individual was 
brought before the justices, held in the sum of £100, and committed 
to the gaol until he could obtain security therefor, for " using lan- 
guage inimical to the liberties of America." 

February 4, 1777, Col. James Wood, son of James Wood, who died 
in 1760, handed in his resignation to the justices as lieutentant-colonel 
of the militia, to accept the commission of colonel in the Continental 
army, and John Smith, one of the justices, was appointed in his place. 
Col. Wood raised his regiment in the lower valley, and marched north- 
ward to join Washington. Dr. C. T. Magill and Henry Beattie were 
also oflScers in the Continental army from Winchester. Beattie was 
afterward a colonel in the war of 1812. At this time Virginia had, 
in addition to those in the regular Continental army, nine regiments, 
of which the lower valley furnished a large proportion. The official 
reports of Frederick County showed in 1777 only 923 effective militia. 

During the spring of 1777, the military authorities of Pennsyl- 
vania gained possession of some documents implicating a number of 
prominent Quakers of Philadelphia and elsewhere in designs inimical 
to the cause for which the colonies were giving so much of their best 
blood on the many fields of contest, and after investigation and full 
legal enactments and processes, the following persons were arrested: 
Joshua Fisher, Abel James, James Pemberton, Henry Drinker, Israel 
Pemberton, John Pemberton, John James, Samuel Pleasants, Thomas 
Wharton and Thomas and Samuel Fisher. These persons, with a 
number of others were ordered, unless they would consent to swear 
or affirm allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania, to be transported to 
Staunton, Va., and there held under surveillance. The order of des- 



138 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

tination was quite complimentary to the patriotism of the valley of 
Virginia, as the authorities must have felt that the hardy sons of the 
tramontane regions of the Old Commonwealth were able to keep in 
restraint those Tory gentlemen. Accordingly about fourteen persons, 
including those named, were forwarded to the Valley, but their des- 
tination was changed to Winchester. Col. John Smith, county lieu- 
tenant, received them and offered to give them parole, if they would 
promise not to escape from his jurisdiction, but they refused. They 
said they had protested against being taken from their homes; that 
they had protested at the Maryland boundary ; that they had pro- 
tested at the Virginia boundary, and now protested at being treated 
as criminals. Col. Smith listened to these repeated protests and re- 
plied: " It is true that I know of no law which will justify your de- 
tention, but as you are sent to my care by the supreme executive of 
your own State, and represented as dangerous characters, and as hav- 
iog been engaged in treasonable practices, I consider it my duty to 
detain you, at least until I can send to the governor of Virginia for 
his advice and direction in the matter." Tradition relates that the old 
colonel made an additional side remark to the effect that if he had 
his way that he would hang the whole lot without judge or jury. He 
once more repeated to them that if they would simply pledge them- 
selves not to abscond that he would not confine them, but they again 
refused, and were at once placed under guard. They were confined 
along with the Hessian prisoners, some 300 of whom were at 
the time being held in a building that is standing to this day in 
the southern portion of Winchester. About nine months after these 
parties had remained in confinement here, they were released through 
the instrumentality of Alexander White, a lawyer, but not until the 
British had left Philadelphia. Several of them died during their 
imprisonment. This action of the Quakers during the Kevolution 
left a stigma on that faith which lasted many years succeeding that 
struggle, and, indeed, traces of it may still be found, but now very 
rarely. It was looked upon by the Americans as an extremely singu- 
lar position for the Quakers to assume, as that sect had been an ob- 
ject of particular persecution by the English government, their very 
presence in the colonies at one time being punishable by death. 

The justices were bound to ascertain the sentiments of those within 
their bailiwick, at least as far as the administration of an oath could 
solve that problem, for the proceedings of a court held September 3, 
1777, gives the following: 



FREDEKICK COUNTY. 139 

" Ordered, that Edward McGuire, gent., is appointed to adminis- 
ter the oath of Fidelity, prescribed by law, to the inhabitants of Win- 
chester, pursuant to the directions of an act of General Assembly in 
that case made and provided. 

" Thomas Helm, for the same purpose, in the Districts of Captains 
Barrett, Ball and McKinney. 

"Joseph Holmes, in the Districts of Captains Gilkerson, Niswau- 
ger and Barron. 

" Robert Throckmorton, in the Districts of Captains Wilson and 
Longacre. 

" William Gibbs, in the Districts of Captains Reynolds and 
Baldwin. 

" Robert White, in the Districts of Captains Babb and Rinker. 

"Edmund Taylor, in the Districts of Captains Farron and Catlett. 
H'John Hite; in the District of Captain Helm." 

It is astonishing how history so often repeats itself. This little 
process of " taking the oath " is no doubt very vivid in the minds of 
many people hereabout; and especially along the border, where the 
contending forces alternately held possession, did this practice most 
obtain. And it was said, by some irreverent scribe at the beginning 
of the late war, that a prominent general at Washington " took the 
oath " every morning before breakfast as an appetizer. 

To return to Morgan: That skillful and dashing officer, after his 
release from Canadian prison life, was ordered to select a regiment of 
riflemen and join the force under the command of General Gates, who 
was gradually, but certainly, encompassing the downfall of Burgoyne, 
and it is claimed that the rifles of the Virginians under the careful 
manipulation of their fearless and determined leader helped very 
materially in bringing about a result that Avas felt throughout the 
whole colonies and shortened the strife by a year or two, for it took 
from active service a large army of England's best soldiers. The 
capitulation to the victorious Gates and his able supporters at Sara- 
toga, included 5,790, of all ranks; which number, added to the killed, 
wounded and prisoners lost by the royal army during the preceding 
part of the expedition, made, altogether, upward of 10,000 men, an 
advantage rendered still more important to the captors, by the acqui- 
sition of thirty-five brass field pieces, and nearly 5,000 muskets. 
The regular troops in Gates' army were 9,000, and the militia 4,000; 
2,000, however, were sick or on furlough. Col. Morgan, for his 



140 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

superior military ability displayed in this very decisive battle and 
his conspicuous bravery, was promoted to the rank of brigadier-gen- 
eral and joined the standard of Washington, near Philadelphia, where 
he further greatly distinguished himself in his operations against the 
English, by means of his regiment of unerring sharpsliooters. A 
large number of the prisoners taken in the engagement with Bur- 
goyne's army, were sent to Winchester, so that in 1780 a barrac^ks 
was erected for them about four miles west of the town. They num- 
bered about 1,600 in 1781. 

The reduction of the cities of Savannah and Charleston so encour- 
aged the English commander that he determined to make the sub- 
jugation of the southern colonies, at least, complete, and an advance 
into the interior of North Carolina was decided upon. The American 
commander-in-chief, being advised of these movements, relieved 
Oen. Gates from the command of the southern army, and appointed 
in his stead Gen. Greene, an officer in whose ability, fortitude and 
integrity, from a long and intimate acquaintance, he had the utmost 
confidence. The day upon which Greene took charge of the. army at 
■Charlotte, he was informed of a gallant exploit performed by Col, 
Washington, of Morgan's command. Being on a foraging expedition, 
this active officer came upon one of the strong-holds of the royalists 
(Tories) near Camden. These traitors to their countrymen, 100 
strong, were entrenched in a block-house, with an abattis, and 
could have defied Washington's little scouting party; but the 
ingenious colonel advanced with great display toward the enemy, 
and planted with deliberation ,a blackened log, mounted on wheels 
and resembling a cannon, so as to rake the block-house, and then 
coolly demanded a surrender. Dreading a cannonade in so confined 
quarters, the garrison marched out and laid down their arms. 

The patriot army in the south was in a very weak condition; there 
being scarcely 3,000, all told, fit for service; but this force was 
divided by the commander, and a detachment under Maj,-Gen. 
Daniel Morgan was sent into the district of Ninety-Six, in the western 
district of South Carolina. Coruwallis being at tliis time far advanced 
in his preparations for the invasion of North Carolina, could not, con- 
sistently with the rules of war, leave an enemy in his rear; so he 
dispatched Col. Tarleton, who had the reputation of being a dashing 
and able young officer, but withal, an incautious and inordinately vain 
one, and whose contempt for Morgan and his militia was complete, to 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 141 

pursue that officer and "push him to the utmost." Tarleton had two 
field pieces, a superiority of infantry in the proportion of five to four, 
and of cavalry, of three to one, against Morgan's five hundred; in all, 
the British commander had over 1,100 men. It is said that Tarleton 
was warned by a Tory colonel, who knew Gen. Morgan and his meth- 
ods of warfare, to beware of how he approached that officer, "that he 
had never been whipped, and that he would be hard to capture;" but 
the pompous colonel only snapped his fingers, as though he would say, 
"the old wagoner and his raw militia would hardly be a breakfast 
bite for him." So, with the advantage in numbers and equipment, 
the gay Tarleton, at a place called the Cowpens, in South Carolina, on 
the 17th of January, 1781, attacked Gen. Morgan with the expectation 
•of driving him out of the State, or annihilating his force. But the 
impetuosity of Tarleton, which had gained him high reputation when 
he had surprised an incautious enemy, or attacked panic-stricken 
militia, was at this time the occasion of his ruin. Impatient of 
delay, he went into the engagement with his men fatigued by march- 
ing, and without properly forming them, or the reserve had taken its 
ground, relying upon what he deemed his superiority in military 
tactics; but he had a general to deal with who could be a fox at one 
moment and a wolf the next, and so it proved. Awaiting the proper 
moment, with everything in readiness, when the time arrived the old 
valley wagoner and his five hundred rushed upon the enemy with such 
impetuosity and havoc that they sent them reeling and in dismay 
back upon their baggage, and what were not killed or captured fled 
in confusion to Charleston. It was one of the severest conflicts of 
the war. The English lost 300 men killed and wounded, besides 
500 prisoners, and all their artillery, ammunition and baggage. 
The Americans had only twelve killed and sixty wounded, a result 
almost unprecedented in the annals of warfare of all time. Gen. 
Morgan was ably supported, as has heretofore been stated, by Col, 
William Augustine Washington, and one can imagine the hearty 
hand-shake of the rough old war-dog and his gallant colonel after the 
capture of Tarleton's army and the flight of that doughty English 
officer. An anecdote is related that is said to have occurred at 
Charleston, after Col. Tarleton had reached that city. This officer, 
who, even after his disastrous defeat, affected to look down upon the 
Virginia militia under Morgan, remarked to some ladies, who knew 
the handsome and dashing Col. Washington, "I would be very glad 



142 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

to get a sight of this Col. AVashington, whom you think so brilliant, 
and of whom I have heard so much." "Had you looked behind you, 
Colonel, at the battle of CoAvpens," replied one of the ladies, "you 
might easily have enjoyed that pleasure." 

After his victory Morgan moved ofp to Virginia with his prisoners, 
but the chagrin of Cornwallis at the defeat of his favorite officer, 
Tarleton, urged that general to renewed exertions, and he endeavored 
to cut off the retreat of the victor and his spoils. General Greene 
also took a hand in the business and effectually checkmated the 
English commander by getting in between him and Morgan with the 
prisoners. Suffice it to say, the latter got off safely, and some time 
afterward, obtaining relief from duty for awhile, retired to his planta- 
tion, " Saratoga," so named in honor of the battle in which he had 
taken so active a part. His residence is said to have been built by 
Hessian prisoners. Not long after the escajje of Morgan to Frederick 
County with the prisoners taken at Cowpens, it was rumored that 
Tarleton was approaching to attempt their capture, when Col. Smith 
ordered out the militia and removed the Hessians and others confined 
near Winchester to Fort Frederick in Washington County, Maryland. 
While Morgan was reposing on his well-earned laurals at his home, 
he was requested by the county lieutenant of Frederick to head a 
party for the suppression of a nest of Tories across in the adjoining 
County of Hardy, and, accompanied by two or three hundred of the 
militia of Berkeley, Shenandoah and Frederick, adopted such meas- 
ures in his treatment of those malcontents as to utterly squelch them 
and they were never afterward heard of as Tories. Morgan's last 
military operations were in 1794, in connection with what is known 
as the " Whisky Insurrection " in Western Pennsylvania. A tax had 
been laid upon distilled spirits, and the producers of that article 
deeming it unjust to them, they being farmers and using all their grain 
foM distilling purposes, whilst those who raised grain for other uses 
were not required to pay tax, resolved to resist the measure. They 
(the distillers) committed a number of outrages on the collectors of 
the revenue, and to such extent were the disturbances growing that the 
general government was compelled to take a hand in the matter. 
Accordingly, Gov. Mifflin of Pennsylvania, Gov. Howell of New 
Jersey, Gov. Lee of Maryland and Gen. Daniel Morgan, all under 
the command of " Light Horse " Harry Lee of Virginia, with their 
repective forces, marched for the scene of action, but before they 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 



143 



arrived on any " bloody field," the rag-tag and bob-tailed insurgents 
thought discretion the better part of valor and submitted to the in- 
evitable. Washington is said to have remarked to Morgan, that it 
must have been a very arduous campaign to walk up hill and down 
again. 







GRAVE OF GEN. DANIEL MORGAN, WINCHESTER, VA. 



Shortly after returning from his first trip to quell the Pennsylvania 
distillers Morgan ran for Congress and was defeated, his competitor 
being Robert Rutherford. He ran again, two years later, and this 
time was successful. Becoming infirm with age and an extremely 
active life, he moved to Winchester in 1800 and resided with his 
youngest daughter, Mrs. Heard. He had married about 1762, Miss 
Abigail Bailey, whose parents lived on the Blue Ridge, above what 



144 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

was kuowii as Combs' Ferry on the SlienaDcloali River, east of Win- 
chester. Morgan had tAvo daughters, the elder, Nancy, who married 
Col. Presley Neville, and the other, Betsey, who married Maj. James 
Heard, both Revolutionary soldiers, and at the house of the latter the 
old general died, July 6, 1802. 

The historian, Sparks, has said of Morgan: "In person he was 
of imposing appearance, moving with strength and grace, of a 
hardy constitution, to defy fatigue, hunger and cold. His open coun- 
tenance was a mirror of his frank, ingenuous nature; he could glow 
with intensest anger, but he would never allow his passion to master 
his discernment, and his disposition was sweet and peaceful, so that 
he delighted in acts of kindness, never harboring malice or revenge, 
making his house a liome of cheerfulness and hospitality. His courage 
was not an idle qiiality, it sprang from the intense energy of his will, 
Avliich bore him on to his duty with an irresitable impetuosity; his 
faculties were only quickened by the nearness of danger, which he was 
sure to make the best preparation to meet; an instinctive perception 
of character assisted him in choosing among his companions those 
whom it was wise to trust, and a reciprocal sympathy made the obedi- 
ence of his soldiers an act of affectionate confidence. Whenever he 
appeared on the battle field the fight was sure to be waged with fear- 
lessness, good judgment and massive euergy. Next to Washington, 
in some qualities, Morgan had" no superior among Virginia soldiers." 

In another light Morgan is sketched by a writer in the Winches- 
ter Repuhlican, in 1842: "This 'thunderbolt of war,' this 'brave 
Morgan who never knew fear,' was in camp often wicked and pro- 
fane, but never a disbeliever in religion. In his latter years he united 
himself with the Presbyterian Church in this place, under the care 
of Rev. Dr. Hill. He related his experience to that minister, ' Peo- 
ple thought,' said he, 'that Daniel Morgan never prayed;' — 
'People said old Morgan never was afraid;' — 'People did not 
know.' He then proceeded to relate in his blunt manner, among 
many other things, that the night they stormed Quebec, while 
waiting in the darkness and the storm with his men paraded, for the 
word to advance, he felt unhappy; the enterprise appeared more than 
perilous; it seemed to him that nothing less than a miracle could bring 
them off safe from an encounter at such amazing disadvantage. He 
stepped aside and kneeled by the side of a munition of war — and then 
most fervently prayed that the Lord God Almighty would be his 



FREDEEICK COUNTY. 145 

shield and defense, for nothing less than an almighty arm could pro- 
tect him. He continued on his knees till the word passed along the 
line. He fully believed that his safety during that night of peril was 
from the interposition of God. Again, he said about the battle of 
Cowpens, which covered him with so much glory as a leader and a 
soldier — he had felt afraid to fight Tarleton with his numerous army 
flushed with success — and that he retreated as long as it seemed ad- 
visable, and yet retain the confidence of his men. Drawing up his 
army in three lines on the side of a hill, contemplating the scene — in 
the distance the glitter of the advancing enemy — he trembled for the 
fate of the day. Going to the woods in the rear, he kneeled in the 
top of a fallen tree, and poured out a prayer to God for his army, for 
himself and for his country. With revived spirits he returned to the 
lines, and in his rough manner cheered them for the fight; as he 
passed along they answered him bravely. The terrible carnage that 
followed the deadly aim of his riflemen decided the victory. ' Ah,' 
said he, 'people said old Morgan never prayed and never was afraid ; 
people did not know; old Morgan was often miserably afraid! The 
last of those riflemen are gone; the brave and hearty gallants of the 
valley, that waded to Canada and stormed Quebec, are all gone; — 
gone, too, the sharpshooters of Saratoga.' For a long time two, who 
shared his captivity in Canada were seen in this village, wasting away 
to shadows of their youth, celebrating with enthusiasm the night of 
their battle, as the years rolled round — Peter Lauck and John Schultz. 
They have answered the roll-call of death, and have joined their leader." 
Out in the cemetery, not far from Morgan's grave, rests another 
of the patriot band of the revolution, the brave Gen. Daniel Rober- 
deau, a Huguenot, who cast his fortunes with America. But here, 
upon a plain marble slab, now level with the ground, cracked and 
broken, may be read the following: 



146 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



MAJOR-GENEEAL DANIEL MORGAN 

departed this life 

On July the 6th, 1802, 

In the 67th year of his age. 

Patriotism and Valor were the 
Prominent Features of his character, 

And 

The honorable services he rendered 

to his country 

During the Revolutionary War 

Crowned him with Glory, and will 

remain in the hearts of his 

Countrymen 

a Perpetual Monument 

to his 

Memory. 



Beneath this humble slab out in the cemetery, under the shadow 
of stately monuments, repose the dust of one of those great soldiers 
who, it seems, flash before the world but once in a century — General 
Daniel Morgan — the Stonewall Jackson of the Revolution. 



FEEDERICK COUNTY. 147 



CHAPTER YIII. 

ONE HUNDKED YEAES AGO. 

Incorporation of Winchester— Post-Revolutionary Boom— Splendid 
Early Schools— First Newspapers in the Valley— Grandiloqient 
Salutatory— Portrait of Washington— The Church Lottery— Some 
Local Items — Dancing Masters— Mr. McGuire's Ball Room— Some 
Fancy' Figures— First Fire Companies— Noted Taverns— Establish- 
ment OF Manufactories— Theatricals— Prominent Merchants- 
Young Ladies seminary— Fine Stores— First Adams Express Com- 
pany^— Post Office— Indentured Servants— Shaved Heads and '• Iron 
Collar"— Just Received from Cork— Vote of the County— Grand 
Celebration and Barbeque of 1788— Description of Parade— First 
Execution— Brief, But to the Point— List of Justices— Longevity 
OF Old Clerks. 

TN October, 1779, a dual act incorporating the towns of Alexandria and 
-^ Winchester was passed by the General Assembly of the Common- 
wealth. The act provided for the election of officers of the two towns; 
the style of the corporations, qualification and eligibility of the mayor, 
and his judicial and ministerial powers ; provided for a recorder, al- 
dermen, sergeant, etc.; market days; misconduct of officers, vacancies, 
and penalties for refusing to qualify ; election of common councilmen. 
That portion of the act, specially in regard to Winchester, is as fol- 
lows: 

Be it further enacted, That the town of Winchester, in the county 
of Frederick, shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be made cor- 
porate in the same manner, to all intents and purposes, as the said 
town of Alexandria ; and that the freeholders and housekeepers thereof 
shall be entitled to the same privileges and in like manner, and under 
the like conditions and limitations; shall have the power of electing 
twelve able and fit men, to serve as mayor, recorder, aldermen and 
common councilmen for the same. The mayor of the town of Winches- 
ter first elected shall, before some justice of the quorum in the com- 
mission of the peace for the county of Frederick, take the oath of 
office. The mayor, recorder and aldermen shall have the same juris- 
diction in civil and criminal cases; and shall, on the second Thursday 
in every month, hold pleas of action arising within the said town of 
Winchester, and the limits hereinafter mentioned, in like manner as 
the mayor, recorder and aldermen of the town of Alexandria. The 



148 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

mayor, recorder, aldermen and common councilmen of the town of 
Winchester, shall, in every instance have the same powers, rights and 
privileges, and be subject to the same penalties, limitations and man- 
ner of proceedings as the mayor, recorder, aldermen and common 
councilmen of the said town of Alexandria; and their jurisdiction shall 
extend to and over the out-lots belonging to the said town of Win- 
chester. 

This act, it will be noted, was passed during the very heat of the 
Revolution, and shows that notwithstanding the great interest the 
citizens of the valley took in the progress of the war, as evidenced in 
the number and gallantry of its soldiers, they also kept in mind the 
welfare of their towns. Two years after the above act of incorpora- 
tion, when peace spread her white wings over the victorious colonies, 
an era of prosperity came to Winchester that amounted to what would 
now be called a veritable " boom." Various important businesses 
sprang into life; it became the mart for the production of several use- 
ful products on such a scale as would now, even, be deemed extensive. 
The manufacture of saddle-trees was carried on to a large extent, and 
were shipped northward and eastward, even entering the markets 
almost controlled by Carlisle, Penn., which at that time was the great 
rival in trade of Winchester. The hats of Winchester were famous 
far and wide, whilst the gloves of buckskin, made by three or four 
manufacturers were sought by all eastern dealers, and doubtless was 
the starting point of the celebrity of valley-made gloves that retain 
their reputation to this day. One of the largest tanneries was located 
here even before the Revolution and its leather was shipped as far 
north as Boston. 

Educational matters received attention at a very early date, and in 
addition to two or three strictly private schools for the lower branches 
two fine classic and academic institutions were opened. In the Alexan- 
dria Advertiser- of June 22, 1786, one year before the first newspaper 
was published in Winchester, the " trustees of the Winchester Latin, 
Greek, and English schools," advertise that having elected "Mr. 
Armstrong and Mr. Potter, two gentlemen of character and abilities, 
to take charge of the institution, do hereby give notice that the schools 
will be opened on Monday, the 10th of July." They set forth that 
" the climate is healthful, the country plentiful and the town grow- 
ing," The price of tuition was four guineas per annum. The 
trustees also state that " there being clergymen of the Episcopal, 
Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches, who officiate regularly in this 





^.J^^^Zz^ 



FREDEEICK COUNTY. 155 

gentlemen of this town that he will teach Dancing in the modern 
method of Europe at 3Ir. McQuire's Ball-room, as he has been em- 
ployed in the first families in Richmond and its neighborhood. He 
will attend gentlemen every evening, and will teach the use of the 
globes, having a pair on a ncAv construction, with Captain Cook's dis- 
coveries." But the following advertisement of another dancing mas- 
ter, which appeared in the Gazette of October 8, 1788, is curious 
enough for preservation, audit is, therefore, given entire: 

To the Ladies and Gentlemen of this Town and County: 

THEIR much obliged and very humble servant, informs them, 
that he will teach on Fridays and Saturdays, at Mr. McGuire's, the 
following elegant, fashionable, tasty, and appproved parts in the 
science of Dancing: 

Minuets. — De la Coeur, Devonshire, Prince of Wales, Lady 
Beetles, etc. 

Allemandes. — Stringsley's, Theodore's, Aldridge's, etc. 

Cotillions. — La Vaudreuil, La Bon Homme, L'Bagatelle, La 
Suisse, etc. 

Country Dances. — Allemande Hopsasa, the Augustine, the Lovely 
Spring, the German Spa, the Theodore, Kenny's Dance, La Belle 
Katharine, the Innocent Maid, and True Felicity. 

And he begs them to believe that he will use all kinds of industry, 
all manner of decorum, and every specie of attention, that the first- 
rate Dancing Masters are so much praised for. He has procured the 
best white Music that is to be had in these parts, and will teach both 
in private and in publick. Those who may doubt his abilities in the 
above science, may receive proof from the most incontestible evidences. 

Simon C. McMahon. 

There was a fire company in Winchester before 1787, and, indeed, 
it may have antedated the Revolution, for it is altogether probable 
that the enterprising citizens of that colonial burg, who must have 
known of the companies in Williamsburg, Fredericksburg and Alex- 
andria, should have organized for protection against the devour- 
ing element, even though it was (which is quite probable) a bucket 
and ladder company. In proof of the existence of a genuine fire 
company there was printed in the Gazette of October 12, 1787, a card 
from a correspondent, which reads as follows: 

Messrs. Printers: — As the welfare of the borough of Winchester 
in a great measure depends on the exertions of its inhabitants, in 
guarding against the most dangerous of the elements, by forming a 
Second Fire Company in this place; it is earnestly requested, that 
those who wish to become members, will meet, at Mr. Edward 



156 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

McGuire's Tavern, on Saturday the 13tli instant, at 5 o'clock in the 
evening, to propose rules and regulations for the government of the 
same. CIVIS. 

Winchester, Oct. 9, 1787. 

Following this suggestion a regular notice appeared November 16, 
as follows: "Notice is hereby given to those gentlemen who are 
subscribers to the Winchester Fire Company, that a meeting is 
appointed to be held at Mr. McGuire's Tavern, tomorrow evening 
at 6 o'clock." The organization seems to have been effected in the 
fall, and on May 14, 1788, further measures were adopted, as the 
following notice in the Centinel sets forth: "The members of the 
Winchester Fire Company are to observe, that a meeting will be held 
at the Market House, this evening at 7 o'clock, for the purpose of 
establishing the said Company, and to be incorporated as agreeable to 
an Act of General Assembly in such cases." This company is thought 
to have purchased the first engine brought to the town, within the 
next year, 1789, as it is not probable that two engines would be 
required at that time. The first company, as has been surmised, 
used buckets and ladders only. That old engine was the apparatus 
known as the "goose-neck." The foundation thus laid for organiza- 
tion against fire, has resulted in one of the most effective and best 
equipped departments, of its size, anywhere to be found. 

Hotels, or as they were called until recent years, ordinaries or 
taverns, were plentiful in Winchester before 1790, and as well kept, 
possibly, as their successors hereabouts of the present day. Edward 
McGuire kept the most noted, and evidently the high-toned hostelry. 
His tavern was the place of meeting for all public affairs, and is fre- 
quently mentioned in the old newspapers. Auctions were held in front 
of his house on Loudon Street; dancing assemblies met there; church 
committees and. political caucuses convened in his parlors, and he had 
a spacious ball-room for the young bloods and fair belles of fashion- 
able Winchester. He kept his taverii many years before and after the 
Revolution, and seems to have been the successor of Henry Heth, 
who kept the tavern in 1756, at which Col. George Washington "put 
up" whilst sojourning here during the building of Fort Loudon. 
Thomas Edmondson also kept a fine tavern up on the hill opposite the 
fort. In 1782 Edmondson had an act of assembly passed which gave 
him the right to lay off five acres of land in the northern part of the 
town into half-acre lots, and on one of these built his tavern. It was 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 157 

a palatial affair for that clay; so magnificent, in fact, that he had a cut 
made of it which is printed at the head of his advertisement in the 
Centinel. It was two stories high and had a porch with steps running 
up each end. Across the front of the second story ran a veranda 
the full length of the building, something wonderful in architecture 
for the town of Winchester in 1788. Across the pavement swung 
high in air between posts the sign, Avhich was a white full-rigged ship 
on a dark ground. He also had a billiard-table for the accommodation 
of his guests. Philip Dalby owned a tavern, but just where it was 
located has been lost. It was called " The House." John Walters 
kept the " Black Horse," and patriotic old Philip Bush kept the 
"■ Golden Buck," on Cameron Street, south of Water. There were, 
doubtless, several minor places of resort for the traveler and the thirsty 
citizen, for the taverns all sold spirits at that day, as they have done 
ever since, and everybody, it seems, preachers and all, took a turn at 
the flowing bowl whenever they felt like it. 

Evidences of great material prosperity appear throughout the vol- 
umes of old papers, from which the foregoing and following facts 
are gleaned. What must have been the outlook for business in 1787, 
when two European architects establish themselves in Winchester? 
As appears from their advertisement, " George Newsam and Edward 
Slater, from London and Berlin, architects and builders, respectfully 
inform the public that they have commenced business in Winchester, 
etc.," and asking a share of the public patronage. And what must 
the ladies think of the retrogression of their " dear old Winchester " 
of to-day when they* are informed that one hundred years ago James 
Kidley had a corset manufactory right in their town? They were 
called stays at that time, and he invites the ladies to patronize him, as 
he " makes stays in the French, Italian, and English fashions." They 
even had an amateur dramatic association, for on the evening of Octo- 
ber 6, 1788, they performed a play called the " Royal Convert," a 
a tragedy. Tickets, at Is. Bd. were to be had at either of the printing 
offices, and the performance came off at the Market House. 

Alexandria and Fredericksburg merchants advertised extensively 
in the two papers, the Valley being to those cities their greatest 
market. W. Haycock, from Alexandria, opened a "soap-boiling and 
tallow-chandling " establishment, and informed country merchants 
that he could supply them at short notice. Thomas Owram & Co., 
settled here and erected on Piccadilly Street, the " Winchester Hemp 



158 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

and Flax Manufactory." They furnished all kinds of linen threads, 
ropes, bolting-cloths, etc. Jonah Hollingsworth and George Mat- 
thews, at " Abraham's Delight," southeast of toAvn, commenced the 
fulling and dyeing business on a large scale. Two book-binderies 
were in operation, and several cabinet-makers and upholsterers had 
shops, whilst there were teal estate dealers, combined with other busi- 
nesses, usually, and lawyers and doctors in abundance. Meshach Sex- 
ton appears to have been engaged in the sale by public auction of a 
number of tracts of land. He held his sales as seen by his advertise- 
ments, in front of John Donaldson's door. The latter conducted 
some prominent business, merchandising, presumably. 

In the matter of merchants, Winchester was well supplied. Ham- 
ilton Cooper & Co., kept a general assortment of wet and dry goods, 
and Richard Gray, in addition to wet and dry goods, kej^t scythes, 
sickles, bar-iron and castings. " Archibald Magill, at his store oppo- 
site the church " kept a fine assortment of " moreens, sagathies, dur- 
ants, camblets, joans, spinnings," etc., in addition to a full line of pat- 
ent medicines and hardware. Philip Bush, Jr., "at the sign of the 
' Golden Urn,' opposite Mr. Wm. Holliday's dwelling house," was a 
jeweler and goldsmith, and Robert Wells, opposite Mr. Jesse Taylor's 
store, was a watch and clock maker, Mr. Wells advertised to " make 
repeating eight-day clocks and watches of the most modern construc- 
tion," and you can rely upon it that he did make them, for in that day 
when a man advertised to do a thing, he did it. James Mercer 
advertises 4,067 acres of land, not many miles from Winchester. 
Joseph Gamble's tailoring establishment was at " Mrs. Troutwines, 
in Cameron street near the Market-house," and Hugh Jerdon 
had his boot and shoe manufactory " nearly opposite the Luth- 
eran Church on Loudon street." Henry Bush has a parcel of 
choice leather for sale at his store, and Philip Dalby offers to sell "an 
elegant double chair," a kind of gig, or as Ave would now call it, a 
buggy. Richard Gray wants all kinds of country produce, and will 
receive all grain delivered at fifteen mills in the county, which he 
names as follows: Morgan's, Brown's, Lewis', Bull's, Snicker's, 
Wormley's, W. Helm's, M. Helm's, G. Bruce's, Hite's, Perkin's, 
Stroop's, Gibb's and Wilson's mills. Flour on the Alexandria market 
was quoted at 31s. per barrel, $5.16|, the Virginia shilling being 16| 
cents. Daniel Norton & Co., in the fall of 1787, advertised " Fall 
Goods just imported in the Dade, Captain James Grayson, master," 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 159 

among which are " duffil and rose blankets, negroe cottons, bath coat- 
ings, callimancoes, wildbores, ladies fashionable hats and ribbons of 
the newest taste." Their store was on the corner of Loudon and Pic- 
cadilly Streets. Thomas Clark, painter, glazier, paper-hanger, gilder, 
etc., advertises that "having laid in a stock of oil and colours and as 
good a stone to grind them on as can be procured, he flatters himself, 
etc." He also adds that he "has an ingredient for destroying bugs 
and fleas,'''' which shows that our little brown friend, who has the rep- 
utation of "getting there all the same," although he be wingless, is 
not a modern innovation. In the spring of 1788 " Miss Maria Smith 
proposes to open a school in Winchester for the instruction of young 
ladies in Reading, Spelling, Tambour, Dresden Embroidering, and all 
kinds of plain and colored needle work." Miss Smith states that she 
" has had the honor of educating some ladies of the first rank." John 
and James McAllister opened a general store " at the sign of the ' To- 
bacco Hogshead' opposite the bridge in Winchester." This firm was 
one of the largest in the town, and purchased "tobacco, hemp, gen- 
sang, deerskins, mustard and flax seed, military certificates, beef, 
pork, etc." The name of this old firm is written on the margin of the 
papers from which these facts are copied, and the volume belonged 
originally to them. J. Gamul Dowdal was also a well-known mer- 
chant. He advertises " linens, woolens, fashionable silks, rum, wine, 
bar-iron and steel." A professional " mineralist " located in Lancas- 
ter, Penn., offers his services to the citizens of this section in the assay- 
ing of all ores and minerals. John Hite, Jr., has just erected his 
"new and elegant mill on Opeckon." 

A nail factory was started by J. & J. McAllister, and Robert 
Sherrard at his new store offers a beautiful assortment of early spring 
goods; Henry Beatty has for sale a quantity of linseed oil; Col. John 
Peyton orders a muster of the militia of Frederick County; Thomas 
Eageil offers for sale a valuable and convenient stone house opposite 
the church on Loudon street, and J. H. Jones tenders his thanks to 
the public for patronizing his school so liberally. William Holliday 
offers for rent his elegant two-story stone house; also has for sale a 
likely Negro woman, with two children, and a "sign for a tavern 
keeper, whereon the likeness of -General Washington is beautifully 
represented on one side, and Benjamin Franklin, Esq., on the other, 
the painting executed by a masterly hand at Philadelphia." Thomas 
Deaderick advertises as a watch and clock maker, gold and silver- 
smith. 



160 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

There must have been bad boys in those early times as well as at 
present, for John Peyton, clerk of the corporation, publishes an ordi- 
nance of the common council in part as follows: "Whereas the 
practice of throwing stones at the public buildings in this place, has 
become so general, that considerable injury has been occasioned 
thereby; and it is necessary that such pernicious and idle proceedings 
should in future be restrained, therefore be it hereby resolved, that it 
is indispensably the duty of parents to caution their children against 
the same." A resolution was passed prohibiting shooting at a mark 
within the corporate limits. 

William Holliday informs the public that he has taken into part- 
nership with himself, Adam Douglas and will be pleased to see his 
customers at his new stone house; Adam Kiger has reduced the price 
for making suits of clothing to twelve shillings; J. & J. McAllister 
are selling pine apples, oranges, lemons, figs, etc. Archibald Magill 
had a fine grocery, liquor and hardware store on the corner of Loudon 
and Piccadilly streets, and Adam Heckman announces himself post- 
rider from Winchester to Staunton (there then being but few post- 
offices established in the valley), and that he would carry letters to 
Newtown, Stover's Town, Miller's Town, New Market, Rocking- 
ham Town, Kersel Town, etc. ; also, that he would carry packages, 
which shows that this Adam, as an express company, anticipates Alvin 
Adams of Massachusetts, by more than half a century. In the post- 
office at Winchester there were fifty-nine letters unlifted; to several 
persons two and three apiece. At that day a letter cost twenty-five 
and thirty cents, and the receiver had to pay for it. " Literary 
fellers," as Ben Butler called the newspaper men, were in demand, as 
an advertisement appears in the Oazette for "a person capable of con- 
ducting a newspaper." Meshach Sexton in 1788 established an oil- 
mill and hemp-mill, and Daniel Miller and Hanc Cavert, tailors, ofPer 
to make a suit of clothes for twelve shillings. John Kean kept a store 
next door to McGuire's tavern, and W. Anson was a painter and up- 
holsterer; Peter Kehoe was a first-class shoemaker, and Edward 
Powars was a "tailor and habit-maker" in addition to being the gaoler 
for the sheriff. 

As illustrative of not only what we should now consider a cruel 
and unjust custom and law, but one that we should find difficult of 
execution, a few extracts from advertisements in regard to the "in- 
dentured servants " of one hundred years ago will be given. It is. 



FREDERICK COUNTY, 161 

strange that our Revolutiouary fathers should have overlooked this 
tyrannical custom, in regard to white servants, at least. In the Gazefte 
of November, 1787, Mr. Hamilton Cooper, the merchant, offers ^10 
reward for the return to him of his Irish servant man, Dennis Wheelan, 
who, the advertiser says, after describing Wheelan's appearance, " was 
bred to the engraving business, writes an excellent hand, and seems 
to have had a good education ; can perform on the violin, and is very 
artful and cunning; who ever secures him so that he may be con- 
veniently come at, shall receive the above reward." How a man of 
the attainments stated could have become a slave to another is hard to 
tell. A number of similar advertisements are printed, and the inventor 
of the steam boat, James Rumsey, offers rewards for several. But 
here is what might now be termed a "local item," one of those little 
incidents happening every day; the editor says: " We are authorized 
to inform the public that the runaway servants of the Potomac Com- 
pany were not sentenced to have their heads shaved (as mentioned in 
this paper of the 26th of January last), the season being thought to 
be too severe for sucli an operation. Their eyebrows only were shaved 
and their hair cut short." In another paper of about this date John 
Selye offers $20 reward for the return to him of John Jacob Pegel, a 
Dutchman, 45 years of age, and James Collins offers $20 reward for 
the apprehension of Nancy Murray, an Irish servant woman, but 
Nancy stole some things from her master. Rumsey, however, caps 
the climax when he states in his advertisement of Francis Murray 
having run away that he, in addition to having his eyebrows shaved 
off, " had on Avhen he left, an iron collar.'''' That was not very remote 
from the habits of the days of Gurth and "VVamba! One can scarcely 
realize how slowly progress progresses. As a curiosity and worthy of 
preservation the annexed advertisement, copied from one of the old 
papers, is here given entire: 

Just received from Cork, and to he disposed of for ready cash, or 
crop tobacco on a short credit. 

A FEW healthy men and women who have from three and one- 
half to four years to serve under indentures. Among the men 
there are laborers, waiters, writers, weavers, shoemakers, taylors, 
whitesmiths, coopers, plasterers, and tilers, hair-dressers, skinners and 
breeches makers. The women are washers, seamstresses, &c. 

HooE & Harrison. 
Alexandria, October 23, 1788. 



162 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

An election was held in Winchester, on Tuesday, March 4, 1788, 
for two delegates to represent Frederick County in the convention 
to be held for the purpose of considering the ratification of the Federal 
constitution by Virginia. Four candidates were voted for, which re- 
sulted in the election of the two who were favorable to "ratification." 
The poll was as follows: John S. Woodcock, 191; Alexander White, 
162; John Smith, 117; Charles M. Thruston, 71. This, 541 votes, was 
the entire vote of Frederick County, including what is now Frederick, 
Clark and Warren. 

In the Winchester Oazetie of July 2, 1788, the following in regard 
to the convention is to be found: 

'• Last Sunday evening arrived in this town from the convention at 
Richmond, Col. R. Humphreys and Col. E. Zane, by which gentlemen 
a letter was brought from Alexander White, Esq., to the mayor, with 
the pleasing intelligence that Virginia had adopted the new constitu- 
tion." 

" On receipt of the above important information the extreme joy 
of the inhabitants of this town was fully evinced by the sparkling eyes 
and elated spirits which shone conspicuous through all ranks of people. 
Being desirous publicly to demonstrate their approbation of the happy 
decision of a subject for which they had been several days waiting 
with the most anxious expectation, on Monday afternoon the infantry 
company, commanded by Capt. Heiskell, and under the immediate 
orders of Maj. McGuire, appeared on the parade, when after discharg- 
ing nine volleys in honor of the nine pillars which now support the 
glorious American fabric, they marched through the town, performing 
a number of evolutions, street firings, &c., as they passed. Toward 
evening a large quantity of combustibles were collected, and conveyed 
to Federal Hill, by the Federal Wagon, drawn by nine horses, decor- 
ated. As soon as night came one, fire Avas set to the materials collec- 
ted, which exhibited a large and beautiful bonfire, and which was seen 
for many miles in the vicinity. The court house and several other 
buildings were elegantly illuminated on this joyful occasion. At nine 
o'clock, a select number of pure Federals retired to Mr. McGuire' s 
and spent the remainder of the evening in the greatest conviviality, 
mirth and good humour. After supper, the following toasts were an- 
nounced, and drank with the most heartfelt satisfaction : 

" 1.' His Excellency, Gen. Washington. 2. His Most Christian 
Majesty. 3. The Marquis de la Fayette. 4. The Hon. Benjamin 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 163 

Franklin, Esq. 5. The memory of the American Worthies who fell in 
the late revolution. 6. The United States. 7. The memorable 4th of 
July. 8. The Patrons of Freedom. 9. The friends of the Federal 
Constitution. 10. May the manufacturing spirit increase as the Fed- 
eral Union becomes permanent and respectable. 11. The Majority of 
the Virginia Convention. 12. May the Federal Pillars be raised to the 
highest pitch of greatness. 13. May the sword never be drawn but 
in the cause of justice. 

" The company then departed, solacing themselves with the pleas- 
ing expectation, that the consequences which will result from the 
establishment of that government they had been celebrating, w^ould 
render us a respectable, happy and wealthy people." 

From the Centinel of the following week, July 9, 1788, an account 
of the double celebration of the " Katification and Fourth of July" is 
taken : 

" Friday last being the glorious Anniversary of American Inde- 
pendency, the same was observed here with every token of heartfelt 
satisfaction and joy. The Federal constitution having been so re- 
cently adopted by this State, and although great rejoicings were held 
in town on Monday the 30th ult. in consequence thereof, it was de- 
termined by the inhabitants to celebrate these two important events 
(which will shine conspicuous in the annals of our country till time 
shall be no more) at one and the same time, with a grand pro- 
cession, etc. 

"At 12 o'clock the different crafts, consisting of upwards of two 
hundred, with Capt. Heiskell's Company of Light Infantry, com- 
manded by Maj. McGuire, assembled at the court house, from whence 
they marched in procession through the principal streets to the Federal 
Spring, at Gen. Wood's plantation, where an elegant Barhequi was 
prepared for their reception. Having arrived at this delightful spot, 
where zephyrs gently fan the air, and stately trees afford a pleasing 
shade, the light infantry fired ten volleys in honor of those States 
which have adopted the Constitution (New Hampshire having ratified 
it before Virginia, though the account had not come to hand previous 
to our last publication) after which the whole partook of the regalia. 
The jovial bowl and glass went briskly round after the repast, and the 
good humour and conviviality which prevailed among all ranks, would 
have done honor to an assemblage of the first characters in the world. 
A large concourse of the Federal Fair honored the sons of freedom 



164 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

with their presence, which added greatly to the brilliancy and har- 
mony of this auspicious scene. At 5 o'clock the whole returned to 
town, and the day concluded with military evolutions, etc. In the 
evening bonfires and illuminations were exhibited, and a splendid 
parade took place. The following is the order of the procession, each 
craft bearing implements suitable to their several occupations : 
" The Light Infantry Company. 
Farmers with Sheefs of Wheat. 
Bakers and Brewers. 
Butchers. 
Coppersmiths. 
White and Blacksmiths. 
Tanners. 
Saddlers. 
Shoemakers. 
Masons. 
Hatters. 
Tailors. 
Watchmakers and Silversmiths. 
Wheelwrights. 
Carpenters and joiners. 
Painters. 
Potters. 
AVeavers. 
Barbers. 
Combmakers. 
Printers. 
Merchants. 
Doctors. 
Clergy and Bar." 
In 1785 Philip Bush, Edward McGuire and Joseph Holmes, were 
appointed a committee to sell the old courthouse and agree with 
proper mechanics to build a new one, but nothing was done in the 
matter, as possibly they could not get a purchaser. And a few years 
later John Kercheval was paid the sum of £18 for " repairing the 
courthouse." In 1795 several sums were also appropriated for the 
same purpose, and $20 was paid for " iron-work for hanging the bell." 
In 1798 $100 was appropriated to put repairs upon the same building, 
which shows that the justices concluded to make the building answer 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 165 

their purposes. In 1805 a new clerk's office was built, at a cost of 
$1,100. 

The first execution occurred in the winter of 1791. James Med- 
licot was arrested and arraigned before the justices on July 31, 1790, 
for the murder of William Hefferman, on the night of July 29, two 
nights before. He was tried, convicted and hung some time during 
the following year, as in the county levy for 1792, Edward Smith and 
Isaac Miller, are each paid £1 10s. for erecting a gallows. 

The old dispensers of law in those primitive times had a mode 
and brevity of procedure that was truly startling. Here is the en- 
tire record of a case as copied verbatim from the proceedings of the 
justices nearly one hundred years ago. It comprises the arraignment, 
trial and conviction of a culprit and tells its own tale: 

" At a court of Oyer and Terminer held in Frederick County, the 
5th day of June, 1798, for the trial of Ralph, a negro man slave, the 
property of James Strother, on suspicion of feloniously plotting and 
conspiring the murder of the said James Strother and Elizabeth, his 
wife, on the 5th day of May, last, by exhibiting or administering to 
them the seed of a certain Noxious and Poisonous Herb, called James 
Town Weed. 

" Present, Charles Mynn Thruston, James G. Dowdal, Thomas 
Buck, Gerrard Briscoe, Matthew Wright and Charles Smith, Gentle- 
men, justices. 

"The prisoner was led to the bar and it being demanded of him 
(having had Archibald Magill assigned to him as counsel), whether 
he was guilty of the facts wherewith he stood charged, or not, said 
that he was in no wise thereof guilty, whereupon sundry witnesses 
were examined, on consideration of whose testimony, and the circum- 
stances attending the same, It is the opinion of the Court that he is 
guilty, and thereupon it is considered that he be hanged by the neck 
until he be dead, and that the sheriff of this county cause execution 
thereof to be committed and done upon him, the said negro Ralph, 
on Friday, the 20th day of July next at the usual place of execution 
between the hours of ten in the forenoon and three in the afternoon 
of the same day. 

" Ordered, that it be certified as the opinion of this Court that 
negro Ralph, the prisoner at the bar, is of the value of three hun- 
dred and thirty-three dollars and one-third of a dollar. 

" Charles Mynn Thruston." 

February 4, 1799, John Rust was arrested and sent on for trial at 
the District court, for the murder of his slave man Jacob, and Janu- 
ary, 1801, Jack, a slave of Bushrod Taylor was tried for murder, but 



166 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

was found not guilty. The gentlemen justices in this case were G. 
Briscoe, C. Baldwin, James Singleton, J. Caldwell and Daniel Con- 
rad. Hugh Holmes was Jack's attorney. Four cases in ten years — 
two white and two black — one of each color being hung, equalized 
the matter. 

Following is a complete list of the justices of the peace for Frederick 
County from 1779 to the present time, or rather, to a recent period. 

1779— John Smith. 

1783— Thomas Buck, Isaac Hite. 

1798 — Charles Smith, George Blakemore. 

1799— John B. Tilden, Joseph Blake, Joshua Gore. 

1801 — Benjamin O'Rear, John Jolliffe. 

1802— Moses Russell, Edward McGuire. 

1804— Edward Smith, Joseph Tidball, William Cooke, James M. Marshall, Will- 
iam Castleman. 

1808 — Griffln Taylor, Robert Vance, Samuel Baker, Lewis McCoole, John S. Ball, 
William Vanmetre. 

1809— James Ware. 

1811— Robert Berkeley, William Snickers, Mandly Taylor, Bushrod Taylor, Will- 
iam Lynn, Charles Breut, Jr., Jacob Heironomus, Dolphin Drew. 

1813 — Beatty Carson, John Bell, Joseph Gamble. 

1815 — William B. Page, Baalis Davis, John Newman. 

1816— David Meade, Treadwell Smith. 

1817 — James Baker, James B. Wigginton, George H. Norris, George Lynn. 

1819 — William S. Jones, John White, Samuel Baker, Jr., William Stephenson, 
Frederick Smith, Simon Carson, George Reed. 

1824— John Heiskell, Daniel Gold, Robert T. Baldwin, David Castleman, Edward 
J. Smith, Joseph Berry, John W. Pugh, George N. Blakemore, Samuel Gardner, Cor- 
nelius E. Baldwin, Jonathan Kackley, Francis Stribling, John Gilkeson, Thomas 
Cramer. 

1825 — John Hays, William Wood, Nathaniel Burwell, Dawson McCormick. 

1831 —John S. Davison, John Rust, Robert M. Marshall, James Gibson, Talliaf- 
fero Stribling, Abraham Miller, Charles H. Clark, Francis B. Whiting, John Rich- 
ards, Nash L. Gardner, Philip Smith, James B. Hall, Richard W. Barton, Jonah 
Lockhart. 

1836— Richard M. Snyder, James B. Brookings, Seth Mason, Joseph G. Gray, 
Archibald S. Baldwin, John W. Miller, Jacob Senseney, Robert L. Baker, Henry W. 
Richards, Elijah Phifer. 

1838— Ed. J. Davison. 

1840— John S. Magill, Joseph Neill, Cornelius B. Hite. 

1843— Daniel Collins, James P. Riely, Jacob Baker, Isaac F. Hite, Walker M. 
Hite, Jonathan Lovett. 

1847— Samuel Cox, James H. Burgess, George Wright, James W. Mason, William 
J. Rowland, Joseph Long, William Smith, William Rosenburg, Alfred Parkins, Mager 
Steel, John Bruce, John W. Pyfer. 

The new constitution of 1851 having gone into effect, made a 

change in the manner of selecting magistrates, and an act passed by 

the General Assembly April 22, 1852, entitled "An act providing for 





~^-fA^ 



FREDEKICK COUNTY. 169 

the election, qualification, powers, duties, and compensation of Justices 
of the Peace, Clerks of Circuit and County Courts, Attorneys for the 
Commonwealth, Sheriffs, Commissioners of the Revenue, Surveyors, 
Constables, and Overseers of the Poor," made more explicit the said 
change. At a Court held August 2, 1852, in accordance with a stip- 
ulation of the bill, John S. Magill was elected presiding justice. The 
magistrates by districts were as follows: 

District No. 1. — James P. Riely, James R. Brooking, William A, Bradford and 
Joseph E. Payne. 

District No. .g'.— James Senseney, Andrew Kidd, Joseph S. Davis and Henry W. 
Richards. 

District No. 3. — Isaac Russell, Abraham Nulton, Mordecai B. Cartmell and Robert 
Glass. 

District No. 4. — Henry P. Ward, David L. Clayton, Robert L. Baker and William 
J. Rowland. 

District No. 5. — Henry H. Baker, Daniel Hinckle, James Robinson and Daniel 
Collins. 

District No. 6. — Felix Good, James Gather, Robert C. Bj'waters and Edward R, 
Muse. 

District No. 7. — Joseph Richard, Ananias D. Russell, Joseph Bromback and Will 
iam Rosenburger. 

District No. 5.— John S. Magill, John B. McLeod, Mager Steel and Isaac F. Hite. 

At that date F. W. M. Holliday was commonwealth's attorney and Thomas A. 
Tidball, clerk. 

There has been a singular longevity attending the early clerks of 
the court of Frederick County. The first clerk, James Wood, took the 
position in November, 1743, and died in the winter of 1759-60; Arch- 
ibald Wager was appointed and held the place till May 4, 1762; James 
Keith qualified at the last date mentioned, and held it until he died in 
October, 1824, having served as clerk sixty-iwo years and jive months. 
Thomas A. Tidball qualified as clerk November 1, 1824, and died 
April 5, 1856, having served as deputy clerk and clerk for over fifty 
years. At his death his son, Allen S. Tidball, was appointed till a 
clerk could be elected, and Thomas A. T. Riely being chosen, he 
qualified June 2, 1856. Mr. Riely having died in 1858, R, E. Seevers 
was appointed till an election could be held, when James P. Riely, Sr., 
was chosen and entered upon his duties in July, 1858, and served till 
August, 1859, when he dying his son, J. Chap Riely, was appointed 
to fill the vacancy, being afterward at the regular election selected by 
ballot. He remained clerk from that time until the close of the war, 
although C. W. Gibbens filled the position by military appointment. 
Gibbens was succeeded by his son, C. M. Gibbens, but in 1870 J. H, 



170 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

Slierrard was selected to fill the place. James P. Kiely, Jr., came in 
in 1873, who remained in possession till his death, when, in the spring 
of 1887, Thomas K. Cartmell was elected, where, the writer hopes, he 
may remain, if he desires it, for a Keith-term. 



CHAPTER IX. 



FREDERICK COUNTY AND WINCHESTER AFTER 1800. 

Population of County and County Seat — Early Water Supply — Disas- 
trous Floods— Old Stackhouse Mill— War of 1812-14— Revolution- 
ary Veterans — The Valley Again to the Front— Another Morgan 
Appears— The First Company and Their Uniform — Lists of All 
Names Obtainable— Description of Old Court House and Jail— 
" Black Betty' "—Pillory' and Stocks— Ye Ancient Market House — 
Dramatic Entertainments— Names of the Actous— Judge Holmes as 
A Singer— Earl Y Neavspapers, Printing etc.— Some Taverns of note — 
Philip Bush and the " Golden Buck "—Louis Phillippe in Search of 
A Dinner— List of Corporation Officers— Various Proceedings of 
the Council — Some Pointers in the Cause Celebre — Fire Engines 
AND Houses— Scared Councilmen— Sharp Spasm of Improvement- 
Reminiscences AND Anecdotes— William Greenavay— Sarah Zane — 
Stores, Stage Lines, Teaming, Dress, etc. 

ry^HE population of Frederick County continued to increase with great 
-*- regularity, and wealth to accumulate, for many years succeeding 
the great contest for liberty and independence, notwithstanding the 
extravagance that seems to have been engendered by seven or eight 
years of privation on the part of the colonies. In 1798 the tithables 
of the county were 3,996; in 1801 they were 4,802; in 1805, 4,904; in 
1810, 4,964 and in 1812, 5,910. This was almost doubling the popu- 
lation, for if the tithables increased at that rate, it is supposable that 
the balance df the population kept pace with them. AVinchester at 
this date, 1810, contained a population of about 2,000, including about 
350 negroes. There were in the neighborhood of 400 houses of all 
kinds, with many fine stores and fine church buildings. Episcopal, 
Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist and Catholic. But notwithstand- 
ing the fine apparel of the ladies, the silk stockings, and knee and 
shoe buckles of the gentlemen, the excellent schools and other evi- 
dences of material prosperity, the streets of the little city were hor- 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 171 

rible to behold, and some of them simply impassable at times. 
Teams would " stall " on Loudon and Water streets at the slight- 
est provocation, and the boys had fine sport occasionally in swim- 
ming on Loudon near the Run. As late as 1844 David Eussell, Jr., 
and Jacob Snyder, swam from about where the Presbyterian Church 
stands, to the Run. In 1795 a fearful flood swept through Bos- 
cowen and a portion of Loudon Streets; in 1811 another occurred; 
and still others. May 31, 1818; August 12, 1838; July 24, 1839; 
October 7, 1846, and August 1, 1855. The water stood fifteen inches 
deep, on some of those occasions, right in the heart of the town. 
Up to 1810 no effort to improve the streets was made, not even by 
macadamizing; they were simply kept up as the county roads were 
— a little grading and filling up the worst holes. April 10, 1810, 
the justices, who seem to have had charge of the streets of the town as 
well as the roads, passed the following: " Ordered that $300 be levied 
upon the tithables of this county and included in the next levy for the 
purpose of enclosing part of the Public Square with a rail fence, and 
turnpiking or paving the main street opposite to the said square 
and otherwise improving the Public Square, and that Edward McGuire 
and William Davison do superintend the same." 

The water supply in Winchester has always been a mattter of 
great concern to the inhabitants thereof, and as early as 1761 the 
passage of an act was obtained in the General Assembly prohibiting 
the running at large of hogs in the town, "as," the act reads, "they 
injure the springs and waters generally ; Provided always, that the 
act be suspended till His Majesty's approbation shall be obtained." 
The fine spring located west of the town has always furnished an 
ample supply of the purest water, and its conveyance to the homes of 
the citizens for a long time perturbed the city authorities, but at last, 
about 1806 or 1808, a Dr. Brown was engaged by the corporation to 
overcome the difiiculty. He brought into use machinery for boring 
the proper sized logs, using horse-power for the purpose. After the 
logs were bored they were joined by iron rings made sharp on their 
edges, the logs then being driven into them. The contract was to 
bring the water to Loudon Street only, and from there the citizens 
were required to open the ditch, if they wished the water, and the 
corporation would lay down the connections. The bore in the main 
logs was two-inch, and the connections one-inch. The waste water 
from this splendid spring was sufficient for many years to operate a 



172 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

mill — the old land-mark known as the Stackhouse Mill — now num- 
bered among the things that were, having given place to a railroad 
depot. That old mill was undoubtedly the oldest building in this 
portion of the valley, and doubtless dates as far back as 1740 to 1750, 
James Wood settled upon the land upon which it stood several years 
prior to 1713, and as a mill was one of the first necessities, what more 
natural than that he should have built one on his land? There was 
a Wood's mill somewhere hereabouts before 1750, by the records; 
and besides, Mr. William G. Russell says that when he was a boy of 
seven or eight years old, in 1808, the mill was an old dilapidated 
affair at that time. James Stackhouse, from whom it took its last 
name, repaired it in 1813, and operated it for some years. Before 
the introduction of the pipes water had to be hauled or carried from 
the run at Washington Street. Wells were never very numerous in 
the town, owing to the immense labor required in penetrating through 
the solid limestone that underlies this whole region. 

The Valley, with the conspicuous promptitude that characterized 
it at the opening of hostilities in 1775, came to the front when war 
was declared between our land and Great Britain in 1812, and many 
an old veteran who had fought with Morgan and witnessed the sur- 
render of Cornwallis, again buckled on his harness and marched to do 
battle against the invader whom he had helped to drive from our 
shores over thirty years before. And singular to relate the first com- 
pany was again raised by a Morgan. Willoughby Morgan, reputed to 
have been the son of Gen. Daniel Morgan, was a highly educated 
young man, and studied law in Winchester. He was one of the hand- 
somest men of his time, was over six feet in height, straight as an 
arrow, and symmetrically built; not fleshy, but strong, powerful and 
graceful in his movements. His company, the first in the Valley, are 
said to have all been selected with regard to their size, none of them 
being less than six feet tall. After some service Capt. Morgan 
received a commission in the regular army and served with Gen. 
Scott in his northwestern campaigns, in one of the battles of which he 
was killed. The uniform of Morgan's company at first consisted of a 
blue nankeen hunting shirt, fringed with red around the bottom, with 
a small cape around the shoulders, also fringed with red, the sleeves 
being similarly fringed ; red flannel leggings, and a round top felt hat 
with a buck-tail stuck in the front.* After Capt. Morgan left the 

* This description was given tlie autlior by Mr. W. G. Russell, who, when a boy of thirteen years of 
age, saw the company marching along Loudon Street. 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 173 

company, it was disbanded for a time, but was reorganized by Capt. 
Thomas Roberts. The names of those forming that company as far as 
can be ascertained Avere: Thomas Roberts, William Roberts, Alex- 
ander Holliday, William Ball, William Campbell, Solomon Heister, 
William C. Holliday, Jacob Baker, Charles Conrad, Nicholas Bur- 
well, Augustus Streit, Peter Bowers, John Bowley, James Bennett, 
Joshua Reed, John Denny, Andrew Bush, Presley Hansbury, James 
Vance, Sandy Hutchinson, John M. Magson, Richard Beckwith, 
James Barr, (fifer), Stewart Grant, Isaac Lauck, John Sloat, James 
Meredith, £hilip Sherrer, John Foster, Philip Hoff, John Price, 
Isaac Kurtz, John Miller, Richard Holliday, Philip Bowers, James 
White, John Carter, George Rice, John C. Clarke, Robert Jack, 
George Swallum, Solomon Spengler, Jonas Ashby, William Kain, 
Lewis Beatty, John Everly (drummer), John AV. Miller. 

Capt. William Morris also organized a company of fifty-one members. 
The following list was furnished the Winchester News several years 
ago by Thomas Foster, who obtained it from the archives in Wash- 
ington. It was an artillery company : William Morris, captain ; George 
W. Kiger, first lieutenant; Isaac Lauck, second lieutenant; William 
Streit, third lieutenant; John Poe, fourth lieutenant; William Van 
Horn, first corporal; William Young, second corporal; Nathan Par- 
rell, third corporal; William McFee, fourth corporal; John Day, fifer; 
John Everly, drummer. Privates: Daniel Gray, John Allen, Thomas 
Austin, William Barnes, Levi Booker, Francis Beckwith, David Cather,v 
John Cooley, Louthan Cochrane, Joseph Kremer, Robert Davidson, 
AVilliam Dalby, John Fenton, John Farmer, Thomas Foster, Roger 
Fulkerson, Richard Gibbs, John HofPnagle, Samuel Herdsman, William 
Hutchinson, George Heinrich, John Johnson, John Haas, John Hoff- 
man, John Hesser, Asa Joyce, Richard Jones, Daniel Kiger, John 
Keeler, John Klyfustine, Thomas Lafferty, John Miller, John Morris, 
James McCann, Craven Shaw, John Schultz, George Schreck, Elisha 
Winn, Henry Young. 

Several other companies left this portion of the valley. One was com- 
manded by Capt. Michael Coyle, with William Throckmorton as first 
lieutenant, and the names of some of the privates, which have been 
preserved, are Daniel Brown, John V. Brown, Frederick Aulick, Jacob 
Lauck, Henry Sloat, Isaac Russell, Jacob Mesmer, Robert Long, John 
M. Magson, who had been in one of the first companies, also, Benja- 
min Scrivener, Michael Copenhaver, Jacob Copenhaver, Henry Crebs 



174 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

John Coyle, William Jenkins, John Jenkins, Stephen Jenkins, J. Fos- 
ter, S. Hester. These three companies were the only uniformed com- 
panies that left Frederick County, but there were a number of other 
persons who were members of other commands whose names are now 
forgotten. Eoberts' and Morris' companies went to Norfolk and Coyle' s 
to Baltimore. At the time of the British advance on Washington 
Judge Henry St. George Tucker raised a cavalry company for ninety 
days. They got as far as Harper's Ferry, but, having learned of the 
departure of the enemy, returned. They afterward went to Norfolk. 
Capt. Peter Printz commanded a company of militia, and Capts. 
Anderson and Miller were in the quartermaster department. Natty 
and Jacky Kyan, two young Irishmen, also enlisted in the service at 
the barracks in Winchester, and Natty was killed. Zachariah Craw- 
ford, Evan Thatcher, Henry Glaize, James Welch, Sampson Touch- 
stone and Eichard Jones, were also soldiers from this section. A re- 
cruiting station was maintained, and the headquarters was in an old 
long weather-boarded house on Braddock Street. A number of prom- 
inent officers were here, and among them were Gen. Peyton Smith, 
Maj. Kean, Angus McDonald, Simon Owen and others. The unfor- 
tunate duel that took place between Gen. Peyton Smith and Hunter 
Holmes originated in that old building. While the soldiers were en- 
camped in a grove at the southern end of Winchester a Methodist 
minister, Eev. Eichard Furguson, frequently preached to them. Lor- 
enza Dow, the famous and eccentric preacher, also preached in the 
same grove. 

From Mr. Eussell's notes on the early events and structures of 
Winchester the following is taken: "The Episcopal Church and 
graveyard took in about one-fourth of the public square. A stone wall 
covered with plank surrounded that portion now taken in by the Kerr 
and Senseny buildings. The church stood about ten feet from the line 
of the wall on Loudon and Water streets, affording a wide pavement. 
The entrance to the yard was on Water street. Before the building 
of the old stone jail there was a log one built way back in the other 
century, but it was destroyed by fire. It stood just about where 
Bantz's shoe store now is. The Clerk's office, built in 1805, stood 
about where the present one stands. It was of stone, arched inside 
with brick. The Court House square was enclosed with a post and 
rail fence, and in the center of the yard stood 'Black Betty' — the 
whipping-post; also the pillory and stocks. 



FREDEKICK COUNTY. 179 

informed Bush who they were — that one of them was the crown 
prince of France and the other his brother, the Due de Chartres, who 
were then in exile from their country. Bush replied that that fact 
made it so much worse, and he would not keep them at any price. 
They then pointed to his sign in proof of their having a right to 
demand public entertainment, whereupon the now fully aroused old 
landlord rushed to his wood-pile, and grasping his axe was about to 
hew down his sign-post, exclaiming, "Come down, Buck!" when the 
polite Frenchmen told Philip that they would go farther on. The 
prince was afterward Louis Phillippe of France. 

In 1812-14 McGuire's tavern was the headquarters of the mili- 
tary gentlemen. Gen. Wilkinson, Col. Preston, Lieut. Shambaugh 
and others stopped there. Nearly opposite McGuire's Daniel Linn 
kept the "Golden Sheaf." Linn was a good-hearted man and met 
everybody with a pleasant smile. Around the sheaf on the sign 
was the legend, " May our country never want bread." William 
Van Horn kept a tavern on the corner of Loudon Street and Fairfax 
Lane. Brady's was the " Indian Queen." South of the run was 
the " Columbian Inn," kept by Capt. Peter Printz, who had been a 
gallant soldier in the war of 1812-14. Still further south on Loudon 
Street, where the Presbyterian Church now stands, was a large log and 
frame building kept by Henry Bush, son of Philip Bush. After Bush 
came Elislia E. Russell, John C. Clark, Mrs. Edmund Pendleton and 
John Pitman. On the hill, corner Loudon and Monmouth Streets, the 
" Wagon and Four Horses " was kept by Elijah Walker. After 
Walker the house was kept by Benjamin Richards and William Hurr. 
Opposite Walker's a house was kept by Philip Amik. Further on 
Mrs. Hollenbeck kept a house, afterward by Benjamin Lanley. Mr. 
Osborne kept a tavern on Cameron Street, mostly for town trade. L. 
T. F. Grim kept a tavern which was afterward kept by Henry Fridley, 
then by Robert Brannan. Mr. Edmonson kept a tavern on Braddock 
Street which was afterward kept by William Doster. Peter Lauck's 
tavern, the " Red Lion," was on the corner of Loudon and Cork Streets. 
It was afterward kept by Edmund Pendleton, James Bryarly, Col. 
George Kiger and Josiah Massie; Later on Bushrod Taylor ran a 
stage line from the hotel named after him, he succeeding Barrick, who 
had succeeded Edward McGuire. The line ran from Winchester to 
Alexandria, and was a great public convenience at that time when rail- 
roads were only begun to be thought of. Winchester has always been 



180 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

a good point for hotels, as it was, and still is, the "getting off place " 
for several of the noted springs and summer resorts of this section. 

For the purpose of preservation and reference the following lists of 
officers of the city of Winchester, as fully as seems necessary for the 
matter in hand, are here given. There are no records of any officers 
■earlier than the date 1804, as the books, if there ever were any, are 
now not to be found. 

At a court of hustings, held for the corporation of AViuchester 
on Friday, November 2, 1804, there were present: 

Mayor, Lewis Wolf; recorder, Joseph Gamble; justices, Nathan 
Anderson, Charles Brent, Jr., Henry Bush, William Ball. 

John Peyton having died, Thomas McKewen was chosen clerk by 
the justices, and the vacancy created by the resignation of McKewen, 
who was commissioner of the revenue, was filled by the appointment 
of Charles Brent, Jr. 

March 1, 1805. — Charles Magill having been elected, was sworn in 
as mayor; LeAvis Wolfe, as recorder; Charles Brent, Jr., Nathan 
Anderson, Joseph Gamble and Henry Beatty, aldermen. 

Justices. — Charles Magill, Lewis Wolfe, Charles Brent, Jr., Nathan 
Anderson, Joseph Gamble, Henry Beatty. 

Councilmen.-^Samuel Colvert, Goldsmith Chandler, Simon Lauck, 
Peter Lauck, William Ball. 

February 28, 1806. — Mayor, Lewis Wolfe; recorder, Charles 
Magill; aldermen — Charles Brent, Beatty Carson, Abraham Miller, 
Joseph Gamble; justices — Lewis Wolfe, Charles Magill, Charles Brent, 
Abraham Miller, Beatty Carson, Joseph Gamble; councilmen — Gold- 
smith Chandler, Nathan Anderson, John Brady, William Ball. 

February 27, 1807. — Mayor, Charles Brent; recorder, Beatty Car- 
son; aldermen — Samuel Colvert, Abraham Miller, John Baker; jus- 
tices — Charles Brent, Beatty Carson, Samuel Colvert^Abraham Miller^ 
John Baker; councilmen — Lewis Barnett, William Doster, Joshua 
Newborough, Simon Lauck, Jacob Poe. 

March 4, 1808. — Mayor, Beatty Carson; recorder, Charles Brent; 
aldermen — Abraham Miller, Nathan Anderson, John Baker, John 
Crockwell; justices — Beatty Carson, Charles Brent, Abraham Miller, 
Nathan Anderson, John Baker, John Crockwell; councilmen — Daniel 
Overaker, Simon Lauck, John Schultz, Peter Harn. 

March, 1809. — Mayor, Charles Brent; recorder, Beatty Carson; 
aldermen — Henry St. George Tucker, George Eeed, Joseph Gamble; 



FREDEKICK COUNTY. 181 

justices — Charles Brent, Beatty Carson, H. St. G. Tucker, George 
Reed, Joseph Gamble. 

February, 1810. — Mayor, Beatty Carson; recorder, Charles Brent; 
aldermen — Abraham Miller, George Eeed, Henry Beatty; justices — 
Beatty Carson, Charles Brent, Abraham Miller, George Reed, Henry 
Beatty, 

March, 1811. — Mayor, Joseph Gamble; recorder, Beatty Carson; 
aldermen — George Reed, John Bell, John Barton, Abraham Miller; 
justices — Joseph Gamble, Beatty Carson, George Reed, John Bell, 
John Baker. 

The order book or books of the corporation from the last date,. 
1811, are missing till 1843, but the officers from that period will be 
continued to the present time, before giving some of the more im- 
portant proceedings of the common council, which, fortunately, ar& 
extant from 1819 to 1850. 

In 1843 James P. Riely was elected mayor, and Lemuel Brent was- 
made clerk. Riely sometime afterward resigned, and George W. 
Seevers was elected, who continued in office till 1847, when J. H. 
Sherrard was elected and continued in office till the close of the late 
war, although for several years during the existence of hostilities no 
business was transacted. 

In 1865 Robert Y. Conrad was elected mayor, and the following 
appears as the first entry in the books: 

August 7, 1865. — The mayor, recorder and aldermen-elect of the 
corporation of Winchester assembled in the clerk's office of the cor- 
poration of Winchester (the place appointed by a previous order of 
the court for holding said court by reason of the destruction of the 
court-room proper by the Federal army), pursuant to an adjournment 
of Saturday the 5th of August, 1865, by the commissioner appointed 
by the governor of Virginia, T, A. Pierpoint, for the purpose of or- 
ganization. 

Present: R. Y. Conrad, mayor; Joseph H. Sherrard, recorder; 
Elijah McDowell, alderman-at-large, and W. G. Russell, Frederick 
Schultz, Oliver M. Brown, William D. Brown, aldermen of wards, who 
severally took the oaths prescribed by the third article of the con- 
stitution of Virginia, before Henry M. Brent and William A. McCor- 
mick, commissioners appointed by the governor of Virginia for hold- 
ing an election of legislative and judicial officers for said corporation. 
Said Robert Y. Conrad, mayor, also took the oath of office before said 



182 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Henry M. Brent and Dr. William A. McCormick, commissioners 
aforesaid; and the recorder and aldermen, whose names are also set 
out, took the oath of office before Robert Y. Conrad, mayor ; thereupon 
the court was organized, and appointed William G. Singleton clerk 
pro tem. 

Judge Conrad retained the position till 1868, when George W. Ginn 
was elected. In 1870 Capt. L. N. Huck was elected. From 1872 
till the spring of 1876 Rev. J. B. T. Keed filled the place, when W. 
L. Clark was elected and continued till 1884, at which time John C. 
Williams took the municipal reins; in 1886 Richard L. Gray, the 
present genial clerk of the corporation, came into power, and in 1888 
William M. Atkinson, tlie present incumbent, stepped to the front, 
who gracefully wears the robes of municipal state. 

To return to the proceedings of the corporation council: After 
reciting the fact that two amendments had been made to the original 
act incorporating the town of Winchester, and another declaring jus- 
tices of the peace of Frederick County residing within the corporate 
limits of the town to be eligible as members of the common council, 
the first ordinance passed prescribes the duties of the treasurer and 
town sergeant. This was in 1820, at which time, also was passed an 
ordinance providing for the appointment of a committee of accounts. 
March 12, 1822, foot-ways were ordered to be placed on both sides of 
Boscowen Street from Loudon to Washington. At this same meeting 
of the council an act setting forth and commanding a number of pro- 
gressive movements was passed, viz. : For the appointment of a 
superintendent of police; keeping streets, alleys, and gutters clean; 
to give information of nuisances; for the employment of scavengers; 
to contract for the sale of dirt taken from the streets; to clean snow 
and ice off of pavements; to remove snow from public square (a 
pointer for the city in the cause celebre) ; no porch to be erected on 
any paved street, except within certain limits; regulating building 
materials piled upon streets ; wagons not permitted to stand on streets 
unless in actual use; carriages not to be driven at an unusual rate of 
speed ; horses not to be galloped ; about slaughter houses, out-houses, 
distilleries, soap-boilers, hatters, etc. ; not to hound or chase any 
horse or cow, or throw at them in the streets; regulating lime-kilns, 
not to fire cannon or muskets in the town ; regulating market, weights, 
measures, butchers, hucksters, etc. An ordinance was passed for wid- 
ening and deepening the town run ; also an act for the "preservation of 



FREDERICK COUNTY. ! 183 

good order on the Sabbath, and for the suppression of other disorderly 
conduct of slaves and others." Patrol appointed, and slaves must be 
in at 10 o'clock, p. m. An act was passed for the curbing "the side- 
walks from Fairfax Lane on the west side to Piccadilly street." The 
rate of taxes as set at this time was: On houses and lots for every 
one hundred dollars, |2.50; every tithable person, $1; male dog, $1; 
female dog, $10. 

October 28, 1826, the council appropriated $50 for erecting an 
engine house "fronting on Water street in the corner formed by the 
walls of the Episcopal chui'ch yard and the court house yard, and the 
space in front of the house to be graveled." Beatty Carson, John 
Bell, and Samuel H. Davis w^ere commissioned to contract for and 
superintend the same (another pointer for the city). A town clock 
was ordered to be procured, at a cost not exceeding $750, to be placed 
in the steeple being erected on the court house. Alexander S. Tidball, 
S. H. Davis and Daniel Lynn were commissioned to procure said 
clock and have it put up. The year 1826 was an extremely unhealthy 
one, and they blamed it on the uncleanness of the streets; so the next 
year the council instituted measures for obviating any return of the 
oreat distress that prevailed. They regulated the using of the public 
hvdrant, when they must be let run, and for cleansing the gutters, etc. 

An act passed this year, 1827, looks rather favorable to the city — 
seems as though they had charge of the public square at that date, 
at least. For the council enacted that "no person shall place any- 
thing in or on the walls enclosing the public square, the court house 
wall, or the wall in front of the south end of the court house." 

February 7, 1829, an ordinance was passed to lay cast-iron pipes 
from the spring to the jail of six-inch dimensions; those on Loudon 
Street to be three-inch, and those on the other streets to be two-inch, 
excepting Stewart, Piccadilly and Boscowen Streets, east of Cameron, 
which are to be one and one-half inch. Those to be used in conveying 
water from the main pipes to hydrants to be two-inch, John Heiskell, 
Alexander S. Tidball, John Bell, William L. Clark and Henry M. Brent 
were appointed commissioners to contract for the purchase of the 
pipes. $10,000 was borrowed and stock issued, redeemable in 1838. 
Lead or iron pipes not over one inch in diameter were to be the only 
ones used by private parties to their hydrants. In this year a build- 
ing was ordered to be erected at the southwest corner of the jail wall, 
21x12 feet, two stories in height, the lower portion to be used for the 



184 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY, 

fire engine and the nj^per stories for a watch-house. Lamps were also 
ordered to be placed at various points on Loudon and Cameron Streets, 
and the next year, more of them were ordered to be put up on other 
streets. 

April 16, 1832, a new fire engine was ordered to be purchased, to 
cost ^800, to be seven and one-half inch, thirty-man power, nozzle 
three-fourths inch, play 170 to 175 feet. John W. Miller, Edgar W. 
Robinson and John Heiskell were appointed committee to purchase. 
Shortly afterward an engine house was ordered to be built on the 
public square, fronting on Loudon Street, but the plan was subse- 
quently changed to a building of larger dimensions. 

The cholera appearing in the United States during this year, 1832,. 
the city fathers in August, appointed a committee consisting of Dr. 
John R. W. Dunbar, John W. Miller, John Heiskell and Thomas B. 
Campbell to take such steps as they deemed necessary to prevent the 
appearance in Winchester of the dread disease, and by October they 
became seriously alarmed and passed the following: 

" Whereas, at the present crisis when death in all its terrific forms,, 
is sweeping off its thousands and tens of thousands of our fellow men, 
and whereas the disease which has proved such an appalling scourge 
to almost every region of the world, is advancing towards us with 
slow but apparently certain strides, it becomes us as members of a 
Christian community, to discountenance and suppress (for the present 
at least), all public exhibitions calculated to bring together large as- 
semblies of people of all classes and habits, and affording to a certain 
class of our population, opportunities to indulge in the intemperate 
propensities, therefore, be it enacted by the President and Common 
Council of the corporation of Winchester, that the exhibition of all 
public shows, circuses or theatrical performances, be, and the same are- 
hereby prohibited until the first day of April next. The penalty was 
$20." 

The health committee was also augmented by the following gen- 
tlemen: Dr. Holliday, Dr. Davison, Joseph H. Sherrard, Dr. H. H. 
McGuii-e, Dr. William D. McGuire, Beatty Carson, Isaac Russell, Dr. 
Ro. T. Baldwin, Dr. James R. Conrad, John R. Cooke, Dr. A. S. Bald- 
win and Charles H. Clarke. 

Having purchased the engine and built a house or two for it, it 
was necessary to procure some other apparatus, so June 29, 1833, the 
council ordered the purchase of two hose-carriages; 250 feet of 




A 



^2!^. 



1^. /%^^f^^ 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 187 

large and 125 feet of small hose; two large water tubs, four chacks 
and chains, two hydrant wrenches, two fire-hooks, four axes, two lad- 
ders and four torches, and John M. Brome, Thomas B. Campbell and 
Lewis Lindsay were appointed a purchasing committee. 

Daniel Gold became president of the council in the spring of 1834, 
and a general spirit of improvement seems to have pervaded that body, 
as acts for the improvement of most of the streets, alleys and roads 
were passed. The walls enclosing the public square were improved 
and the bridges over the run were repaired. John Bell, Henry F. 
Baker, John Miller, John M. Brown, Thomas B. Campbell, John F. 
Wall, Beatty Carson, Godfrey Miller, Jacob Baker, James P. Riely, 
Abraham Miller, John Price, Lewis Lindsay, William Henuing, Fred- 
erick Schultz and John B. Campbell were deputised to attend to the 
public improvements. 

In 1835 the council ordered the purchase of the Tidball spring, 
and in 1836 the purchase of a suction engine, for $750 and additional 
hose, hooks, ladders, etc. The Baltimore & Potomac Railroad was 
given permission to have space in the public building for a ticket 
office, and further improvement of the streets was ordered. Robert Y. 
Conrad, Robert Brannan, David Russell, Abraham Miller, John Bruce, 
David W. Barton, Bushrod Taylor and Mr. Senseney were ordered 
to carry out the designs of the council. 

In 1838 $50 were appropriated toward building an engine 
house on the corner of Loudon and Monmouth Streets, and $25 
to the Friendship Fire Company to repair and paint their engine. 
In 1839 an act Avas passed authorizing a loan of $25,000 to pay the 
subscription to the Valley Turnpike Company. 

In 1840 the General Assembly of the State, by petition of the 
citizens, changed the charter of the town so that instead of voting by 
wards, a general vote of the voters should be sufficient to elect coun- 
cilmen, etc. In 1847 the council appropriated $75 to the Eagle Fire 
Company, and in 1848 an act was passed appropriating annually the 
following sums: To the Sarah Zane Company, $125; Union, or 
Eagle, Company, $75; Friendship Company, $50. 

But here is an order that is' calculated to give the "city's case" a 
black eye, for it reads: "W^hereas, the County Court of Frederick 
County at its June Term passed an order that leave be granted to the 
corporate authorities of the town of Winchester to erect suitable 
buildings for the fire engines on any part of the public square, except 

12 



188 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

on the west or northwest of the court house, be it enacted, etc." This 
act was amended by ordering the houses to be built elsewhere. 

In 1850, the Winchester & Berry ville and the Front Royal Turn- 
pike Companies each received a ^10,000 subscription. August 24, 
1855, gas was introduced, and in 1889 the old town was brilliantly 
illuminated with electricity. 

In closing this chapter, a number of incidents related to the author 
by William G. Russell, Esq., now in his ninetieth year, the oldest living 
land-mark in this section, whose faculties are still almost perfectly 
preserved, whose education and social position has been well adapted 
to the obtaining of the facts furnished, will here be given. 

It was a tradition that the members of Morgan's first company, 
when they encamped at the spring near Shepherdstown in 1775, had 
all agreed to meet at that spot fifty years from that time, should they 
be living. At the expiration of that time two old men appeared on 
the spot, both of them from Winchester, and the fact was so stated in 
the papers. Shortly after this was published Mr. Russell went to 
Tennessee on a visit to his uncle, William Greenway, a soldier of the 
Revolution, and while there the young man (Mr. R. ) read the 
accounts as published of the meeting alluded to, with the additional 
remark of the editor that the old veterans were all dead but the two 
who met at the spring, whereupon Mr. Greenway sprang to his feet, 
jumped into the air and cracked his heels, exclaiming, "That's a lie; 
here's one of them ! " And he was, too, being at that time over seventy 
years of age. 

Way back in the 20's, there lived in Winchester an old Revolu- 
tionary soldier named Mark Hays. He was a peculiar old character, 
used to ring the bell for auctions, etc. He was helping to dig a well 
near where the gas-house is now located, and in blasting the rocks the 
fuse was shorter than Mark expected, so it exploded the powder 
prematurely and blew the old veteran into an apple tree, from which 
he was rescued entirely unhurt. 

In the early days a brutal case of mayhem occurred out in the 
mountain, not far from Winchester. A man named Rudolph, through 
spite for her father, bit one of the ears off of an innocent little girl, on 
meeting her alone. The miscreant was pursued by a man named 
Joseph Parker, $500 reward being offered for his capture. Parker 
discovered Rudolph up a tree, and, as he approached the fugitive, 
received a shot in the shoulder; but, notwithstanding his being 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 189 

partially disabled, made the villain come down, tied him, and marched 
him off to the authorities. He was sentenced to the penitentiary, and 
Parker g A his $500, besides other funds. 

It if related that on one occasion Mr. Marshall went to William 
Ball an .1 Peter Schult.: to collect ]\is "quit rents." Schultz reacl^od 
for his old m'^jk^'* h*^ ad used jt the stjrming of Quebec and told the 
collector to "git out o' I^ere in double quick," and he Vvcnt pretty 
lively. Old man Ball grasped his bword and flashing it around his 
head two or three times, ini'ormed the g» ntleman (Mr. M. ^ thft 
Morgan had seen him u^c that, but " I'll ui^u it now Avlien he don't seo 
it, if you come fooling r.round here " Those old Revolutionary he- 
roes, as the year came round, w^ere in the habi^ of "celebratiug"' their 
soldier days, and Mr. Russell says they had high old Kii:l'S. Gel 
"full?"— well! 

Several of the Hessian prisoners remained in Winchester after the 
Revolution, and some of their descendants are said to be living there 
still. The boys, in consequence of the stigma attached to the unfortu- 
nate old fellows, who were only either sold to the English or were 
soldiers of fortune, making arms their profession, used to poke a 
good deal of fun at them. There was one, named, Gyer, and the 
mischievous lads used to cry after him, "Hessian Gyer! Hessian 
Gyer!" One Sunday old man Gyer went to hear Rev. Reck, a Lu- 
theran minister, and it so happened that the preacher took his text 
from Hezekiah, having occasion to repeat the word several times. 
Gyer, who was on a front seat, dressed in his velvet breeches, blue 
stockings and silver buckles, rose to his feet and said, "Mr. Reck, you 
call me Hessian Gyer, I no stay." 

Miss Sarah Zane, the daughter of Col. Isaac Zane, a man whose 
name appears as one of the first justices to take the oath of fealty to the 
commonwealth when she threw off the British yoke in 1776, spent 
much of her time in Winchester. She boarded with Mrs. Christian 
Streit; she also stayed with the Baldwin and Mackey families. She 
was a woman of fair size, compactly built, and rather good looking^ 
with an extremely benevolent, pleasant and kindly face. She will 
always have a warm place in the hearts of Winchester people, and es- 
pecially among the fire laddies. 

About 1815 land and other property depreciated fifty per cent, 
and great stagnation in trade was the result. This lowering of values 
was undoubtedly the result of the extravagance that followed the 



190 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

natural exhuberance of spirit that prevaded all classes at the fayor- 
able ending of the struggle for autonomy on the part of the colonies. 
But by 1820 to 1825 another reaction occurred, and business went 
booming along. Hundreds of persons could be seen daily on the 
streets of Winchester, some of them coming 75 to IQO miles with 
pack-horses for supplies, for there were very few good wagon roads 
over and through the mountains to the westward at that time. These 
pack-horses carried everything, even furniture, and it was a curious 
sight to see piled upon the back of a horse tables and chairs. Bar 
iron, one of the most awkward articles to transport on horse back, 
was bent to the proper shape, all the stores that kept it having large 
heavy logs with staples driven in them around which the iron was 
bent to the shape of the horse. Teaming along the valley pike was a 
tremendous business before the railroads were constructed, and long 
lines of six-horse teams with those large, partially boat-shaped, 
wagons, appropriately called " land schooners," could be seen, some- 
times as many as fifteen or twenty in company, and with bells upon 
every horse. Their pleasant jingle was particularly inspiring. The 
old stage lines were an interesting feature, and the regular arrival of 
them with the mails was an event looked forward to by every body. 
In regard to dress, our aged informant is quite interesting. In 
cities and towns the men generally wore short breeches, black velvet, 
if it could be had, with yarn or silk stockings, and with knee and shoe 
buckles, the vest was very long, cut off at the corners, and with huge 
pockets. It would sometimes be made of different colored goods, so 
that when lapped over and buttoned one way it would be blue, and 
another way it would show red or yellow. The coat was a " shad- 
belly," of various stuffs. The buckles on the shoes were sometimes 
three or four inches in length. The three-cornered cocked hat was 
used by almost all " gentlemen," as the old Kevolution had made it 
very popular. In the country the men usually wore a hunting shirt. 
The breeches were of all styles. Sometimes they were like bags, 
with a red or blue ribbon in the bottom to draw them close. When 
short breeches were worn the boots were long, and at the top a por- 
tion turned down about six or eight inches, generally of buff' colored 
leather. When short breeches went out of fashion the " Suwarrah " 
boot came into vogue. It was long, but was pressed down and wrinkled 
and some of the old " bloods " took as much pains in " wrinkling " 
their boots as a modern belle does her sixty-four-button undressed 
Bernhart kids. 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 191 



CHAPTER X. 

MODERN FREDERICK AND THE TOWNS. 

Thfj Bench and Bak— Eminent Early Settlers— Their Famous Descend- 
ants—Lists OF Laavyers — Some Noted Names— Superior Court or 
Chancery— Judge Tucker's Law School— Distinguished Graduates— 
A Brilliant Galaxy— Churches and Ministers — Claijis for the 
First Church— Theories Thereon— Rev. William Williams, First 
Preacher — Two Eaiily Chapels- Frederick Parish— Lord Fairfax 
and His Bequests— Alexander Balmaine — Centenary Reformed 
Church— IJvANGELicAL Lutheran Church— Presbyterian Churches — 
Methodist Episcopal Churchks— Catholic Church— United Breth- 
ren Church — Friends' Meeting House — Baptist, Christian, Church 
of God and Colored Churches— The Cemeteries— Honors to the 
Heroic Dead — Educational— Splendid Schools — Fire Companiks — 
Public Improvements — Industries— Societies— Stephens City, Mid- 
dletown, and the Villages— General Summing Up. 

WINCHESTER from its very foundation, and Frederick County 
as well, has always been the center and seat of much cultiva- 
tion, courtesy and patriotism. At first it was so from force of cir- 
cumstances, Winchester being the point at which the first court of 
justices was organized (1743) throughout not only the entire Shenan- 
doah Valley, but stretching to the southern boundary of the State, the 
organization in Augusta County not occurring until two years later 
(1745). Afterward, during colonial times, and from the Revolution 
onward, notwithstanding the rise of rival towns and cities in the val- 
ley and in other sections of the two Virginias, Winchester has main- 
tained its ancient prestige as the mother of many eminent men and 
women and a home for learning and refinement. The social standing 
of its very early pioneers was above the average of those who usually 
make new settlements. Such men as Richard ap Morgan, Morgan 
ap Morgan, Welshmen of gentle birth; Marquis Calmes, the Hugue- 
not; Thomas Ashby, James Wood and Thomas Rutherford, English- 
men of education ; Andrew Campbell, Lewis Neil, George Hoge, Scotch- 
Irish Presbyterians; the Van Metres and Swearengens, Hollanders 
of enterprise; Dr. Frederick Conrad and Yost Hite, the wealthy Ger- 



192 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

mans; the Caitniells, tho Holling!>\vorth!? aiul many others, all Avere 
horo not long after IToO. These oKl loaders in tho vanguanl of civili- 
zation conld not fail to leave an impress of simple grandenr upon 
their time, and many of the descendants of these sires are still fore- 
most among their fellow-men. Some have gained well-merited fame, 
many have reached the highest stations conferable by their constitu- 
ents. \vhile one (to name a glorious instance) is embalmed in the 
heart of nearly every man, woman and child who was fortnnate 
enough to have seen tho knightly trooper, tho intrepid loader, the 
courtly gentleman — Gen. Ttkner Ashby. tho Chevalior Bayard of the 
Civil war. 

Other representative men came in over 100 years ago whose 
characters are felt to-day, but almi>st from the moment that Lawyer 
James Porteus, the first attorney to make application for admission 
to practice his profession, stepped up to the rude bar at the first session 
of the first court held November 11, 1743, the bench and bar of Frederick 
has had no superior and but few equals in ability and recognized stand- 
ing throughout Virginia. And in the succeeding fifty years, whilst the 
able but eccentric Gabriel Jones (admitted 1743) and the brilliant 
and accomplishecl Alexander White, prominent about the Eevolution- 
ary period; onward through the sixty-two years and five months of 
service as clerk of the court of James Keith (ending in 1S24:) ; and 
still onward during the fifty years of service of Thomas A. Tidball as 
elerk, the profession of the law was and is still graced by minds that 
would do honor to any community in any land. There are so many, 
names that loom above the average horizon, that to give a sketch of 
each of those who bore them would far transcend the limits allotted 
to this subject in this work. To select a few would not only be in- 
vidious but extremely unjust to the descendants of those left unmen- 
tioned. But a list of all the attorneys gleaned from the records, will 
be found below, running up to and including those of the present day. 
A number of the first-named practiced before the Revolution and 
many others have been mentioned in preceding chapters of this work. 
They Avere not ail residents of Frederick County, large as it Avas. 
several of them living in the eastern counties of the State, but their 
names appear as practitioners in the courts of this county, and are 
therefore given. The list commences at 1781, and gives the date of 
admission to practice, in most cases, and runs till 1812: 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 



193 



1781. 


Robert White. 


1794. 


John lirown. 


1785. 


Francis Whiting- 


1794. 


Isaac Hile Williams. 


1785. 


Charles Magill. 


1794. 


Klijah Gaither. 


1786. 


Samuel Keed. 


1795. 


Alexander White, 3d 


1787. 


liuckner Tliruston. 


1799. 


Daniel Thomas. 


1787. 


George Nicholas. 


1799. 


Joseph Sexton. 


1787. 


Charles Marshall. 


1799. 


William Tate. 


1788. 


Argur Treadwell F'urman. 


17{>9. 


James Chipley. 


1788. 


John James Maund. 


1799. 


Richard Holliday. 


1788. 


John Thompson Mason. 


1800. 


Thomas Griggs. 


1788. 


Jiohert Page. 


im). 


Matthew Lodge. 


1789. 


John Dixon. 


1800. 


Samuel McMechen. 


1789. 


Hugh Holmes. 


1801. 


Henry Daingerfield. 


1790. 


Maxwell Armstrong. 


1801. 


Joseph Caldwell. 


1791. 


Archibald Magill. 


1801. 


Alfred H. Powell. 


1791. 


James ('ochrane. 


1805. 


Daniel Lee. 


1791. 


Thomas Swan. 


1805. 


JoBiah Tidball. 


1791. 


James Ash. 


1805. 


William A. Menzies. 


1791. 


David Holmes. 







In conformity with an act of the General Assembly of the common- 
wealth, the first term of the superior court of chancery to be held in 
Winchester, was begun on the 7th of July, 1812; Dabney Carr, judge; 
Daniel Lee, clerk; William Eskridge, sergeant-at-arms of the court. 

The first attorneys to take the oath, preparatory to practice in the 
new tribunal of justice, were: Archibald Magill, Henry St. George 
Tucker, Alfred H. Powell, Obed Waite, Elisha Boyd, William Naylor, 
John R. Cooke, Charles Magill, Lewis Wolfe, Robert B. AVhite, 
Warner Throckmorton, Augustine C. Smith, Oliver Bliss and Samuel 
Kercheval, Jr. 

The following list of attorneys, gleaned from the records of the 
court of chancery, covers all who were practicing in the courts of 
Frederick County, at or about the date given, and although a number 
of the names may be repeated in this and the succeeding lists, yet as 
a matter of reference they are given in all cases: 

November 22, 1819. — Dabney Carr, judge, and Daniel Lee, clerk. 

John_Kopkin», 

Burr W. Harrison, 
John E. Page, 
Humphrey Powell, 
Richard H. Lee, 



Charles Magill, 
Archibald Magill, 
Henry St. George Tucker 
Alfred H. Powell, 
Obed Waite, 
Elisha Boyd, 
Robert B. White, 
William Naylor, 
John R. Cooke, 
Warner Throckmorton, 
Augustine C. Smith, 



Samuel Kerchevel, 
Robert Page, 
Joseph Sexton, 
Sampson Blincoe, 
Lewis P. W. Balch, 
John Baker, 
Richard H. Henderson, 
Jonathan Carlyle, 
Alexander S. Tidball, 
William Chilton, 
Moses T. Hunter, 



Henry Berry, 
Joseph Strother, 
George Murray, 
William L. Clark, 
John McPharlane, 
Thomas Marshall, 



194 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



Richard Barton, 
Aaron Jewett, 
Richard McLane, 
James M. Mason, 
John Ransdall, 
William Jenners, 



Province McCormick, 
Andrew Kennedy, 
Charles T. Magill, 
Joseph H. Sherrard, 
James Mcllhanej', 
Thomas B. Turner, 
Cuthbert Powell, Jr., 



Lewis Wolfe, 
Oliver Bliss, 
Thomas Griggs, 
Ebenezer Martin, 
M. Munroe, 
Francis W. Gilmer. 



Henry St. George Tucker having been appointed judge of the 
superior court of chancery, for the districts of Winchester and Clarks- 
burg, March 24, 1824, he presented his commission and opened the 
court in Winchester April 5, 1824; Daniel Lee, clerk. David H. Con- 
rad and John B. Smith were admitted to practice at the same date. 

In the records of 1825 appear the following additional names as 
practitioners before this court: Charles L. Powell, Charles J. Faulk- 
ner, William Lucas, A. S. Kercheval, and Messrs. Dougherty, Taps- 
cott, Samuels, Fowke, Grey, Seymour and Williamson. 

Richard E. Parker being appointed judge of the superior court, 
opened the same June 3, 1881. In 1833 the following names appear 
as either practicing, or having practiced, before the court indicated: 



Obed Waite, 
John R. Cooke, 
James M. Mason, 
William L. Clarke, 
John Hopkins, 
Philip Williams, 
James Marshall, 
Robert Y. Conrad, 
David W. Barton, 
W. G. Singleton, 
Province McCormick, 
Edmund P. Hunter, 
Alex. S. Tidball, 
James J. Randolph, 



Charles T. Magill, 
William Naylor, 
Samuel Kercheval, Jr., 
Andrew Kennedy, 
John S. Magill, 
Joseph H. Sherrard, 
Edmund L Lee, 
Richard E. Byrd, 
Richard H. Henderson, 
Henry Berry, 
Angus W. McDonald, 
James Hervey Carson, 
Joseph S. Carson, 
Burr W. Harrison, 



Lewis Glover, 
Giles Cook, 
Richard Parker, 
Walter Brooke, 
Beverly Snickers, 
David H. McGuire, 
William R. Johnston, 
Robert Page, Jr., 
John L. Green, 
J. L. Snodgrass, 
Andrew Hunter, 
Henry Byrne, 
Edward E. Cooke, 
John A. Thompson. 



Isaac R. Douglass was appointed judge of the chancery court, and 
opened his first term March 6, 1837, and having served fourteen years, 
Richard Parker was appointed and opened the court June 13, 1851. 

The following gentlemen are recorded in the chancery order books 
covering the years included from 1858 to 1889, as practitioners of the 
law in the courts of Frederick. Some of the first named are still in 
active practice here, some have removed to other fields of usefulness, 
and some have gone to the bar of that High Court whose judge is 
always just, and from whose decisions there is no appeal: 



FREDERICK COUNTY, 



195 



-Phillip Williams, 
Robert Y. Conrad, 
David W. Barton, 
Andrew Hunter, 
Edward E. Cook, 
^^_Province McCormick, 
Giles Cook, 
Lewis T. Moore, 
John Randolph Tucker, 
William L. Clark, Jr., 
David H. Conrad, 
Charles L. Brent, 
F. W. M. Holliday, 
J. B. Hoge. 
T. T. Fauntleroy, Jr., 
N. S. White, 
Lawson Botts, 
E. B. Mantor, 
S. J. C. Moore, 
Charles T. Magill, 
Robert E. Seivers, 
Robert Turner, 
James M. Mason, 



Powell Conrad, 
Lewis N. Huck, 
Charles L. Ginn, 
Morgan, Wells & Co., 
J. W. Jenkins, 
C. L. Watrous, 
Urial Wright, 
U. L. Boyce, 
J. P. Riely, 
J. J. Williams, 
E. Holmes Boyd, 
R. T. Barton, 
Randolph Barton, 
J. W. Denney, 
Joseph S. Carson, 
Joseph H. Sherrard, 
J. Hayes Shields, 
E. P. Dandridge, 
T. Shumate, 
Holmes Conrad, 
. J. H. Williams, 
Richard Parker, 
R. W. Hunter, 
B. C. Campbell, 



E. E. Stickley, 
M. Walton, 

C. A. Yancey, 
William Lauck, 
J. R. Tucker, 
W. J. Robinson, 
G. W. Brent, 
W. W. Arnett, 
P. McCormick, 
G.lV. Ward, 

G. W. Ward, Jr., 
William Byrd, 
Richard E. Byrd. 
Thomas W. Harrison, 
William M. Atkinson, 
William A. Alexander, 
A. R. Pendleton, , 
M. M. Lynch, 
James P. Whittaker, 

D. H Bragonier, 
C. S. W. Barnes, 
W. Roy Stephenson, 
Robert M. Ward. 



In consequence of tlie Civil war very little was done in the courts 
of Frederick County, and the severance of the western portion of the 
judicial districts, owing to the creation of the State of West Virginia, 
changed the entire mode of procedure. Instead of a superior court 
of chancery, at the close of the war circuit courts were established. 
In 1869, June 10, Edmund Pendleton, having been appointed judge 
for the Thirteenth Judicial District, which comprised Frederick 
County, that gentleman opened the first session of the court under the 
new regulations, but he retained the position only one year, as on 
June 10, 1870, Judge Robert H. Turner held the court as a portion of 
the Twelfth Judicial District. Col. Joseph H. Nulton is the present 
clerk of the circuit court. Hon. W. L. Clark is judge of the city and 
county courts. 

Not only has the bar of Winchester always borne a first-class repu- 
tation, but as early as between 1820 and 1830 Judge Henry St. George 
Tucker conducted a School of Law, which had a large attendance for 
several years. Many men who afterward became noted in the history 
of their respective counties and States attended this school, among 
whom were Gov. Henry A. Wise, of Virginia; Gov. Francis Thomas, 
of Maryland, and William Cost Johnson, of the same State, besides a 
number of Frederick County's best known lawyers. 



196 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

It is safe in saying that no other county in the State of Virginia 
can point to a more numerous galaxy of legal lights, men who stood 
above their fellow man in all those attainments that go to make up 
genuine ability, with intellects that were broad, far-reaching, firm- 
grasping, and yet intensely subtle and analytic, than Frederick County. 
Not to go farther back than the Revolution, one must pause at that old 
heroic parson, Charles Mynu Thruston, the clergyman-soldier, the 
educated gentleman, and chief dispenser of justice in this county for 
many years; then to Gen. James Wood, son of Col. James Wood, the 
first clerk of the county, in 1743. Gen. Wood, from the position of 
deputy clerk of the county, successively was honored by his fellow 
citizens until he reached the position of Governor of the Common- 
wealth in 1798. A little further onward we behold the names of 
Judge Hugh Holmes and Judge Henry St. George Tucker, and omvard 
still loom up the names of Powell and Boyd and Augustine Smith, and 
the Lees and Robert Y. Conrad, and the Marshalls, and the Masons, 
and the Bartons, and Pendletons and Hunters, and a number of others 
almost as gifted, including many who are still living, and who are 
destined to leave their impress on those to come after them. Win- 
chester has furnished one governor of late years in the person of the 
gallant Col. F. W. M. Holliday, who bears the evidence of the faith 
that was in him during the late disastrous struggle between North 
and South, in the empty sleeve that hangs by his side, and one of her 
great lawyers, James M. Mason, who resided here from 1821 till the 
breaking out of the war, was selected, in conjunction with Mr. Slidell, 
by the Confederate government to attempt a hazardous and uncertain 
mission abroad, the outcome of which nearly precipitated war between 
Great Britain and the United States. Another gentleman who was 
admitted to practice here in 1825, but who resided in Berkeley County, 
became Minister to France durinof President Buchanan's administra- 
tion, the Hon. Charles James Faulkner. But space forbids further 
mention of the bench or bar of Frederick County. 

CHURCHES AND MINISTERS. 

Wherever civilized man goes his religion always accompanies him ; 
wherever he sets up his rude cabin or stately mansion, one of his first 
acts after planting himself is to erect a place of worship, and the next 
is to induce the settlement in the new village or community of a min- 
ister of the gospel. And there never is wanting some valiant soldier 



FEEDEKICK COUNTY. 197 

of the cross to adventure into the wilds; only too happy is he of the op- 
portunity to spread the glad tidings to those to whom it may be difficult 
to reach. Grand old heroes were those early pioneer ministers — those 
henchmen of the Lord — who, Avith rifle on shoulder and bible and 
prayer-book in pocket, were as capable of drawing a bead on the sav- 
age foe as drawing a conclusion from a text. They were mighty fac- 
tors in the settlement of the wilderness, for their words of consola- 
tion in times of peril and privation made the life of the pioneer not 
only bearable but content, hopeful and even pleasant. The Presby- 
terians claim the honor of being the first to introduce worship into the 
valley of Virginia; the Quakers, or Friends, do the same, as well 
as the Lutherans and Calvinists, now known as Reformers, and 
with equal propriety can the Episcopalians lay early claim. The facts 
are these, and all can judge of the matter as may suit their pleasure: 
The first settlement, beyond a doubt, south of the Potomac River was 
made on the spot where now stands Shepherdstowu, by a number of 
German mechanics from Pennsylvania. They naturally brought their 
religion with them; now, were they Lutherans or Reformers? A 
settlement of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians was made not long after the 
Germans came to their new home^ and some of them went farther up 
the valley, on the Opequon above Winchester, at the same time that 
the German, Yost Hitet; and his three German sons-in-law and some 
others went there. It is altogether probable that Hite and his party 
were Calvinists or Reformers, and that they built a small church on 
the Opequon, as is claimed that the Calvinists did in 1740, by the 
present Reformed Church, and on which claim they have based the 
fact of calling their church in Winchester, established in 1840, the 
Centenary Reformed Church. Quakers, or Friends were here, un- 
doubtedly before Yost Hite^l^ame to the Opequon settlement, as Alex- 
ander Ross, a Quaker, obtained a large grant of land near Winchester 
before 1732, as the writer has seen a survey from him of a tract of 
land made for a Hollingsworth, whose grandfather came over with Will- 
iam Penn. This old document is dated 1732, but the family claim 
that their ancestor settled on the tract as early as 1726. About 1730 
is, possibly, the correct date. The Episcopal Church came a little 
later than the dates given above, although writers of that denomina- 
tion claim priority of establishment, and with good reason, as Mor- 
gan Morgan, a devout Episcopalian, the first justice named in 1743, 
had doubtless been living in the valley many years before the county 



198 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

was created. Shortly after the organization of the court in 1743, "Mor- 
gan's Chapel" and " Cunningham's Chapel" appear in the old records. 
But the first mention of a minister is in 1743-4:4, where Rev. William 
Williams is spoken of, as has been stated in a former chapter of this 
work, in connection with having violated the law in presuming to 
marry various persons, he " not being an orihodox minister." He was 
doubtless a Presbyterian. 

The Episcopal Church. — The introduction of the Episcopal Church 
into Frederick County is coeval with the organization, or rather 
creation (the latter antedating the former by about five years) of that 
county, for inasmuch as it was the established religion of the mother 
country, England, it was obligatory on the part of the colonial rulers 
to make provision for the spiritual as well as political welfare of the 
subjects of their sovereign lord and master, the King; so, when Fred- 
erick was cut off from Orange County, in 1738, a parish named Fred- 
erick was also instituted, and although there may have been no rector 
and no church edifice for several years, yet collections for their main- 
tenance went on all the same. They had a vestry, of course, and 
church wardens whose general duty it Avas to superintend, as it were, 
the morals of their less religious fellows, but whose special province 
seems to have been, according to the ancient records, to take charge 
of and punish the unfortunate female victims of man's inordinate 
passions. Very little otherwise is heard of church, vestry or wardens, 
until after the arrival of Lord Fairfax, in 1749, but there seems to 
have been a misapplication of the funds set apart for church purposes, 
some £1,500 having been badly used by the virtuous old churchmen, 
as an act of Assembly was passed in 1752, dissolving the vestry for 
that cause, and the appointment of another set. These were Lord 
Fairfax, Isaac Perkins, Gabriel Jones, John Hite, Thomas Swearen- 
gen, Charles Buck, Robert Lemmon, John Lindsay, John Ashby, 
James Cromley and Lewis Neil. Lord Fairfax, in 1752, gave a lot 
on the southwest corner of the public square in Winchester, upon 
which shortly afterward was erected a rude chapel. This was occu- 
pied many years, but a better one, of stone, was reared on the same 
spot some time before the Revolution, which was continued to be used 
until the sale of the lot by the congregation, and the building of the 
handsome edifice on the corner of Water and Washington Streets. 
The mortal remains "of his lordship, originally deposited in the grave- 
yard of the old church, upon the sale of the lot to private individuals,. 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 199 

were removed and now repose under the altar of the new church. 
Bishop Meade says that the first minister of Frederick parish was a 
Eev. Mr. Gordon, but where he came from, Avhen he took charge, and 
when his ministry ended is now not known. Rev. Mr. Meldrum suc- 
ceeded Mr. Gordon, who was in turn followed by" Rev. Mr. Sebastian, 
who took charge about 1766 and remained till 1777, when he, like 
patriotic Peter Muhlenberg, threw off the gown and grasped the 
sword in defense of the struggling colonies. From that date until 
1785 there was no regular pastor of Frederick parish, but at about 
the date named Rev. Alexander Balmaine, who also had fought for the 
independence of the colonies, was chosen rector and remained in 
charge for over thirty years. He lived on Cameron Street north of 
Piccadilly Street, and was highly respected and loved by all classes of 
the community. After Mr. Balmaine's death, Rev. Mr. Bryan, as 
assistant to Bishop Meade, filled the position. Then came Rev. Mr. 
Robertson. In 1827 Christ Church, Winchester, was organized into 
a separate parish, the parish to which it was attached extending, up to 
that time, over a large extent of country. Rev. J. E. Jackson was 
chosen minister, and under his supervision the present fiue church 
edifice was erected. He resigned in 1842 and went to Kentucky, be- 
ing succeeded by Rev. Mr. Rooker, who resigned in 1847. Rev. Cor- 
nelius Walker then took charge, and was succeeded by Rev. Dr. W. 
C. Meredith, who continued till the commencement of the Civil War, 
into which he entered as a private in a Confederate regiment, after- 
ward becoming chaplain. Rev. Mr. Maury filled the position as 
rector during the war, but at its close Rev. Mr. Meredith resumed his 
connection with the parish, and retained it till his death in 1876. 
Then Rev. Dr. James R. Hubard was accepted as pastor, and remained 
about eleven years, when he was succeeded by Rev. Nelson R. Dame, 
the present rector. 

Centenary Reformed Church. — From actual records and from tradi- 
tions handed down, the Reformed Calvinists, or German Reformed, 
ministry from the Palatinate, Germany, organized a congregation near 
to the town of AVinchester, or rather the spot whereon that now delight- 
ful little city stands, in 1740 or 1741, and the crumbling foundation of 
the little stone church near Kernstown is supposed to be the locality 
where that congregation worshiped. The church was abandoned in 
1753-4, when a Presbyterian congregation occupied it, and by long 
occupation by them it has since been known as a church of that denomi- 



1200 iiisroKV 01" THi:: loweu t;ur.N.\NPo.\u valley. 

nation. On May 15. 1758. Lord Fairfax bv ilood gavo '* Lots num- 
bered SlI and So." Tho bequest in part reads as follows: *' Do i^ive, 
grant aud confirm unto the said Philip l>ush. Daniel Bush. Henrv 
Briuker. Jacob Sowers, and Frederick Oourad. as trustees appointed 
bv the said conirreo-ation (^Keformed CalvinistsV the said recited Lots 
of land, for erecting and building a nuH^ting-house for the use of the 
said congregation and fin- no other purpose." Soon after this grant a 
log and frame meeting-house was erected on these lots, situated in 
the eastern portion of Winchester, being bounded by Philptit Lane 
aud East Lane, etc. The records bring the church history up to 
about the beginning of the present century. From IT'.M for a nunduu- 
of years Rev. G. W. Schneyder was pastor. Rev. Bernhard Willey 
made the fii*st records of the church, which are preserved, and Rev. 
Mr. Schneyder about ISOO. and the last by Rev. Dr. John Brown, 
October 1(\ IStU. From this date for many vears the church orjrani- 
zrttiou seems to have been so scattered or dissolved that no services 
of this denomination were held in the building. It was used, however, 
by Rev. Robert Sedwick. a Baptist minister, who preached there for 
about nine years, and after he left it was occupied by Jonathan 
Robinson, colored, also a Baptist minister, who came to Winchester 
with Col. Preston during tlie war of IS 111. Nothing is known to 
the members, of the church from 1S23 till IS-tO. at which time etforts 
were made to raise funds for the repair of the church built in 1754:, 
but on aid being promised from the synods and classes it was con- 
cluded to build a new editice in con\memoration of the one hundredth 
anniversary of the organization in this section of the State, and the 
" Centenary Reformed Church " was the result. This structure is 
still stAudiug, although it was wrecked and ruined daring the late war. 
The original log and frame house was desti'oyed by fire on the night 
of February lo. 1S4:4: and the sight is said to have been a wonderful 
one. as the ground and roofs of buildings were covered with snow, in 
addition to the light from a full moon. Persons awaking from their 
sleep imagined that the whole town was on fire, and great consterna- 
tion prevailed. After the completion of the new church in 1840 Rev. 
George A. Leopgld became pastor for a short time, and was succeeded 
in December of that year by Revs. D. H. Bragonier and Robert Doug- 
las, as joint pastors of several churches, but in 1S45 Mr. Douglas be- 
came sole pastor. In 1S-1:7 Rev. G. W. Willard, now president of Heidel- 
berg College, Tiltin. Ohio, became pastor, resigning in 1850, and being 



FItEDEIiICK COUNTY. 201 

succeeded by Rev. now Dr. J. O. Miller, who remained four years, being 
followed by Rev. now P. Seibert Davis, D. D., until recently editor-in- 
chief of the Reformed Mes!^en(jer of Philadelphia. Dr. Davis resigning 
in 1857, Rev, Mr. Douglas became a supply for two years, when he was 
succeeded by Rev. Dr. John M. Fetzell, now of Lancaster, Penn., who 
continued pastor till the breaking out of the civil war in 1801. Rev. 
Norval WiLson, a resident minister of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, y>reached for the congregation until 1802, when the church 
building was taken jxjssession of by the Federal troops, which use and 
occupation resulted in the almost complete destruction of the property. 
The lecture room in the basement was used as a stable, the pews and 
pulpit for fire wood, and holes cut in the floor of the audience room 
and walls for convenience. This scandalously treated congregation 
have never received one cent damages for the loss of their property. 
When the building was repaired or patched after the war Rev. Hiram 
Shaull Vjecame pastor, remaining from 1800 till 1873. He was suc- 
ceeded in 1874 by Rev, Charles G. Fisher, who resigned in 1880. 
Then came Rev. A. R, Kremer till 1884, followed by Rev, S. L, Whit- 
more. The last pastor, Rev. U. O, Mohr, only remained a few months, 
and the church is now without one. In the burying ground of the old 
church is a tombstone erected to the memory of George Helm, bear- 
ing date 1709, 

The Evuiujelical Luiherdn Church. — The old Lutheran Church, as^ 
will be seen from the following records deposited in the corner-stone, 
was commenced in 1704, but it was not completed till 1793, which date 
it bore on the gable end. In 1821 the spire was erected. After the 
erection of the handsome edifice on Boscowen Street, the old one was 
used now and then for public meetings, celebrations, etc. Following 
is the record: 

"In the name of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Amen! 
The foundation of this temple, by the grace of God, was laid in the 
year of Christ, 1704, on the 10th of June. 

"The hearers and founders of this temple are all and each mem- 
bers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, at this time, residing in the 
city of Winchester, to wit: 

"Thomas Schmidt, Nicholas Schrack, Christian Heiskell, David 
Dieterich, Christopher Wetzell, Peter Holferstein, George Michael Lau- 
binger, JSeinrich Becker, Jacob Sibert, Jacob Braun, Stephen Fraen- 
eker, Christopher Altrich, Tobias Otto, Eberhard Doring, Andreas 
Friedly, Amanuel Burger, Christopher Heintz, Donald Heigel, Jacob- 



202 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Trautwine, John Segmond Haenli, Jolianiies Lemley, Johannes Lentz, 
Cliristian Newberger, George Schumacher, Michael Roger, Michael 
AVarnig, Christopher Lamber, Samuel Wendell, Michael Gluck, Julius 
Spickert, Balthazer Poe, Jacob Koppenhaber, Heinrich Weller. 

"Under whose care and inspection, and at whose expense this 
temple was built, at that time bore rule George III, King of Great 
Britain, our most clement master, and his officers and governor in 
Virginia, Francis Fauquier, in Williamsburg, then presiding with 
highest authority, and Thomas Fairfax, chief magistrate of this whole 
district, at that time residing not far from this city, who has given to 
us gratuitously and of good will, two lots of ground, comprising one 
acre, for sacred use. 

"This temple has been consecrated to the Triune God, and to the 
Evangelical Lutheran religion alone; all sects whatsoever name they 
may bear, and all others who either dissent from, or do not fully assent 
to, our Evangelical Lutheran religion being forever excluded. As a 
permanent record of which to our posterity, this paj^er is here placed 
and has been deposited for everlasting remembrance in this corner- 
stone. Drawn up in Winchester April 16, MDCCLXIIII. 

"JOHANNES CASPER KERCHNER, 
"At that time minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 
"LuDwiG Adams, Scribe. 
"Anthony Ludi, 

" School Master in this city." 
In 1772 the walls were completed, but the ambitious old Germans 
seem to have undertaken a larger job than they were aware of, and in 
consequence of their exclusiveness, which bordered on intolerance, as 
evidenced in the document placed in the corner-stone, they received 
very little help outside of their own denomination. But they are said 
to have worked like beavers to finish their church, women even assist- 
ing in any thing that they could do, even carrying stone and timber, 
and helping to lift heavy articles. It was not finished as late as 1787- 
88, at which time a lottery was inaugurated to raise the requisite funds 
to complete the building. During the great struggle for liberty, of 
1775-81, the church was used for a barracks. In 1785, when Rev. 
Christian Streit took charge of the church, there were no doors nor 
window-glass nor shutters. But they persevered to such an extent 
that in 1790 they had cast at Bremen, Germany, two bells of extra- 
ordinary sweetness, and in 1795 they had an organ put in. The 
church on Boscowen Street has been in charge at various iimes of 
Revs. Abraham Reck, Eichelberger, C. P. Krauth and Rev. Messrs. 
Baum, Messach, Dosh, Gilbert and Miller. 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 205 

The Presbyterian Churches. — The Presbyterian denomination was 
possibly the oldest religious society in the vicinity of Winchester, 
and yet they had no church in that town till 1790, the members wor- 
shiping at the old Opequon Church. Decisive measures were taken 
for the erection of an edifice in the town named in 1787, as has been 
shown in a former chapter, where plans are sought by the trustees of 
the chvirch from persons competent to build the same. The edifice 
thus proposed was built in the course of a year or two. Dr. Hill 
came to the charge about 1785, and remained till 1838, off and on. 
This first church is now used as a school for colored children, and is 
on the ridge in the eastern section of Winchester, where at one time 
there were four churches all in a row. 

The original society, known as the Loudon Street Church, was 
organized by some thirty or forty members, who were dissenters from 
the body of the old Presbyterian Church in 1838, because they sym- 
pathized with what was known as the -' New School Movement " in 
the United States. Under the pastoral charge of Dr. Hill they first 
occupied the stone house on the west side of Cameron Street, south of 
the run, once the property of Philip Bush, but at that time belonging 
to J. and A. Miller, who gave them the use of it free. The present 
building was erected in 1840. Soon after completion the pulpit was 
filled by Rev. Moses Hunter. The first synod of the Virginia " New 
School " branch of the church was held in this church in 1841. The 
late Dr. H. H. Boyd was installed pastor in 1842, and remained till 
his death, in 1865. Rev. J. W. Lupton succeeded Dr. Boyd, but re- 
signed after one year's pastoral charge. Rev. G. L. Leyburn took 
charge in the spring of 1867, and remained till he was appointed mis- 
sionary to Greece, dissolving his connection in 1875. Rev. H. M. 
White, the present pastor, took charge in June, 1875. 

The " Old School" Presbyterian Church was built about 1838-39, 
after the division, and the pulpit has been filled by Rev. Dr. Riddell, 
Rev. Dr. William M. Atkinson and Rev. Dr. Graham, the present 
pastor. 

Methodist Episcopal Churches. — Methodism in the valley of Vir- 
ginia no doubt dates to a very early period, for the ministers of that 
denomination have always been noted as pioneers upon the frontiers, 
and where the ax could be heard felling the primeval forests, it was 
not long before the voice of one of those "bringers of glad tidings" 
accompanied the strokes of the woodsman. Before the Revolution, it 



206 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

is thought, itinerant preachers of the faith of Wesley had penetrated 
the settlements in the valley, and although there is no evidence that 
a church in that behalf was erected, yet the foundation was laid from 
which has arisen one of the most numerous and influential religious 
societies in Virginia. Their churches are noted for numbers and 
beauty and their ministers for eloquence and ability. 

The first Methodist Episcopal Church was erected about 1794 on 
Cameron Street, between Water and Cork Streets, the lot being pur- 
chased from William Beatty in 1791, and deeded to James Holliday, 
John Steed, Samuel Colvert and Kichard Holliday. In 1805 confer- 
ence was held here for the first time. There were no regular preach- 
ers stationed here till about 1827. In 1818 the building was sold to 
Peter Ham, by the trustees of the church, George Reed, Beatty Car- 
son, James Walls and George M. Fryer. The trustees then purchased 
the lot on which "Fairfax Hall," the school of the Misses Billings, 
now stands, and erected thereon the second church. About 1851-52 
this property was sold and the fine brick church on the corner of Cam- 
eron and Cork Streets was built, the corner-stone being laid Septem- 
ber 12, 1853. From 1824 to 1827 the pulpit was mostly filled by Rev. 
George Reed, and has been successively filled since by Revs. Edward 
Smith, Henry Furlong, John L. Gibbons, John Miller, Job Guest, 
Norval Wilson, William Hamilton, John Smith, E. Dorsey, W^illiam 
B. Edwards, Norval Wilson (second time), Samuel Kepler, William 
Krebs, John S. Martin, William Hirst, Thomas Sewell, N. J. B. Mor- 
gan, S. V. Blake, B. F. Brooke, J. R. Wheeler, and since the division 
of the church after the late war, by Revs. Mr. Creever, W. F. Ward, 
Revs. Mr. Reed, W. T. L. Weech, Revs. Messrs. Gardner, Courtney, 
Ferguson, H. S. France, M. Bishop and the present pastor. Rev. Mr. 
Koontz. 

The Braddock Street Methodist Episcopal Church South was 
erected under the supervision of Mr. William R. Denny, in 1858. It 
is connected with the Virginia Conference, and was in charge of Revs. 
George H. Ray, Peterson and August. The church was terribly abused 
by the United States soldiers during the Civil War, and particularly 
by those under Gen. Banks. The Cameron Street Church was used 
by the Methodists generally during the war, after the soldiers had 
made the Braddock Street Church unsuitable for occupancy, but at the 
close of the great struggle when the difficulty arose as to the owner- 
ship of the Methodist Churches in Virginia, and when the soldiers in 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 207 

pursuance of the decisions of the courts took charge of the Cameron 
Street edifice, the original adherents of the Methodist Episcojial 
Church Soutli bought the Braddock Street building and worship 
there now. The ministers who have been stationed there since the 
war are: Eevs. Dr. K. E. S. Hough, I. E. Finley, D. D., J. E. Arm- 
strong, T. E. Carson, Samuel Eogers, D. D., James S. Gardner, H. H. 
Kennedy, J. W. Shoaf, W. P. Harrison, D. M. James, J. S. Martin, 
George Tyler and Thomas E. Carson. 

The Catholic Church. — The history, or rather the starting point 
of the Catholic Church in Frederick County is now not definitely 
known, but it is altogether probable that it antedates the period gen- 
erally set down — 1790 to 1794 — as there were a number of Irish fam- 
ilies here at a very early date, and some of them very prominent. 
Although there may have been no church building or edifice set apart 
for public worship, yet the religious zeal for which the Catholic 
Church is noted, makes it almost certain that priests found their way 
to the splendid section of Virginia that was rapidly coming into notice, 
and celebrated mass at private residences. The first priest, as far as 
records show, who visited Winchester, was Father Dubois, who came 
from Pennsylvania, or Maryland. It is claimed by some that the first 
church was built in 1790 to 179-4, and in support of this view there is 
a tombstone in the little cemetery on the hill, where once stood the 
church, which reads: " 1794. Sacred to the memory of Maria 
Holker, daughter of John Holker, late Consul General of France and 
Agent of the Eoyal Marine. Aged 10 years." Tradition says that a 
wealthy Frenchman furnished nearly the entire funds for building the 
church and Monsieur Holker is doubtless the person indicated. 
Holker remained in America after he left the French consular service, 
and his daughter dying in Winchester, she may have been buried 
elsewhere, and after the building of the church and consecration of 
the graveyard, her remains were re-interred where they now repose. 
This theory is supported by the fact that only the year of her death is 
on the slab. Maj. Edward McGuire, the ancestor of a family that is 
extensively known and honored throughout Virginia, who was a lead- 
ing citizen over one hundred years ago, gave the lot upon which the 
first church was built, but there is no record of the time of building. 
Mr. W. G. Eussell says the church was built in 1805, and as the old 
gentleman, who was then five years of age, has been found to be ex- 
tremely correct in his early dates on other matters, as the writer 



208 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

hereof has verified by records, it is safe to assume that he is correct in 
this case. There may have been a separate burying ground for the 
Catholics, but no church till the last date named. In the little grave- 
yard on tbe hill lie many of the pioneer Catholics, and among the 
number is Patrick Denver, who came to Winchester about 1795 from 
Ireland. He was the grandfather of Gen. Denver, governor of 
Kansas before its admission as a State, and from whom the city of 
Denver, Colo., is named. Patrick Denver died March 31, 1881. The 
names of the priests who officiated here from the building of the 
church till 1840 cannot now be ascertained, but they were doubtless 
identical with those at Harper's Ferry, as the church at that place 
had a resident priest. Years would pass without the opportunity for 
the little band of the faithful partaking of the blessings of the mass. 
In 1844, however. Father O'Brien began visiting Winchester every 
three months. A few years later, Avhen great impetus was given to 
improvements in the way of turnpike roads, which necessitated the 
employment of Irish Catholic laborers, the visits of the priest were in- 
creased to once a month, whicli was kept up till the outbreak of the 
Civil War. Father Plunket succeeded Father O'Brien, a very pop- 
ular gentleman among all classes, and he in turn was succeeded by 
Fathers Talty and Costello. During the war the church Avas turned 
into a stable by the soldiers of Banks and others and when the disas- 
trous struggle closed, naught but ruins marked the sacred spot where 
once the little edifice opened wide its doors to all. Rev, J. J. Kain 
became the first spiritual adviser, but without a church, so services 
were held in the parlor of one of the members, and afterward better 
accommodations were afforded. Father Kain worked unceasingly for 
the erection of a new church, and in 1870 the corner stone of one of 
the largest churches in the Valley was laid, and some time after, the 
building had progressed enough to permit the use of the basement for 
the services. It was a hard struggle to complete the church, and to 
make matters worse Father Kain was taken from them, he having 
been advanced to the Bishopric of Wheeling, Father Van De Vyver 
succeeded and the church was completed in 1878, and consecrated 
under the patronage of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Rev, J, Hagan 
became the first resident pastor in 1878, all those preceding him 
being missionaries from other sections. During Father Hagan's 
pastorate, a neat residence was built adjoining the church, and a paro- 
chial school was established, whicli is in a flourishing condition. Rev, 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 209 

D. J. CConnell succeeded Father Hagau, and after remaining one year 
was followed by Rev. J. B. O'Reilly, under whose influence and untir- 
ing devotion the communicants have increased, till there is a congre- 
gation now of 300 souls. Father Reilly has purchased and laid out 
a most suitable site for a cemetery. All the property is paid for and 
the church, which is one of the handsomest in the Valley, is an honor 
to all connected with it. 

United Brethren in Christ Church. — Although this denomination 
had a number of ch.urch buildings in various parts of the Valley, not 
until 1873 were they in sufficient numbers to establish one here in 
Winchester. But through the exertions of Rev. G. W. Howe the 
neat and comfortable building on Braddock Street was erected at the 
date given. The present pastor is Rev. J. B. Chamberlain. 

The Friends' 31 eetiiig- House. — This denomination of Christians 
have a very neat and tasteful building on Washington and Piccadilly 
Streets. It was built since the war. They had a meeting-house, built 
many years before that time, as it is one of the oldest religious organi- 
zations in the Valley, but the building was destroyed by soldiers. 

The Baptist Cliurch dates back to a tolerable age, but its early 
history seems not to be known to even prominent members of that 
church, as an account of it could not be obtained after repeated en- 
deavors. They have no pastor at present. 

The Christian Church has no pastor at present, and the Church of 
God is in the same condition. Rev. Mr. Pirkey had been in charge 
of the former and Elder Morgan of the latter. The colored people 
have four congregations, two Methodist and two Baptist. 

THE CEMETERIES. 

There are several beautiful cemeteries adjoining Winchester. The 
Catholics have lately laid off a very beautiful site as a city for their 
dead, but Mount Hebron, for all denominations, is one of the loveliest 
spots of ground for the purposes to which it is dedicated, to be found 
anywhere. It is situated upon a commanding eminence just outside 
of the city limits, and contains thirty-five acres of land. In the main 
portion it is covered with beautiful trees, evergreens and creeping 
plants. Imposing monuments rise from beds of lovely flowers and 
many a moss-covered slab reveals a date that takes one back to the 
beginning of the century, and a few, even years before that time. The 
humble and well-nigh ruined slab that marks the resting place of Gen. 



210 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

Daniel Morgan lies in the front of the grounds, and with the vacant 
space surrounding it seems to appeal to the patriotism o£ this genera- 
tion to rear some better testimonial to his unselfish patriotism in the 
war that gave us this grand constellation of States. Mount Hebron was 
first laid out in 1844, 

Sfonewall Cemeiery. — Within the enclosure that marks the bounds 
of Mount Hebron is situated the Confederate Stonewall Cemetery. The 
Confederate dead who fell in the many engagements in this portion 
of the Valley lie here, and a number of beautiful and costly monuments 
attest the love the living have for the departed heroes who laid down 
their lives in a cause they deemed pure and just. As an evidence of 
the promptness with which the ladies of the Valley hastened to erect a 
testimonial to the dead soldiers of their defeated and scattered army, 
this cemetery has the honor of being the first one finished in the 
United States, North or South. It was opened formally on October 
9, 1866. Ex-Gov. Henry A. Wise delivered one of the grandest ora- 
tions on that occasion that ever fell from the lips of man. A number 
of splendid monuments have been erected, those of Virginia and Mary- 
land being particularly fine. But the crowning feature of this " bivouac 
of the dead " is the magnificent marble monument erected exclusively 
by the ladies of the South. It is a shaft forty-eight feet high, surmounted 
by a Confederate soldier, and cost $10,000. Beneath it repose the 
remains of 829 unknown soldiers — unknown to a single soul on earth 
to-day — unknown to all save Him whose eye never overlooks the fall 
of a sparrow, much less these sleeping boys in gray whose pure young 
blood streamed out, mayhap, behind some lonely rock or tree, as he 
thought of a mother, father, sister, wife, who would await the coming 
of their hero, who never would return. On the base of the monument 
are the words: " To the Unknown Dead" and this is the only " monu- 
ment to the unknown dead" in all our land. On another portion of 
the base are the words: "Who they were none know; what they 
were all know." A sentiment that no poet of any age ever excelled 
for depth, pathos and intrinsic meaning. 

United States National Military Cemetery. — For the following 
particulars the author is indebted to Capt. W. A. Donaldson, super- 
intendent of the cemetery: 

Location — Distance from court house, east half a mile. Estab- 
lished and dedicated April 9, 1866. Area of ground, five acres; rect- 
angular in form, with main avenue running north and south ; flat, with 
depression from west to east. 



FREDEKICK COUNTY. 211 

Names and dates o£ battles from the scenes of which the dead 
were removed to this cemetery: Kernstown, March 23, 1862; Union 
forces under Gen. Shields, Confederates under Gen. Stonewall Jackson, 
Banks retreat. May 23, 1862. Miles' surrender, September 1862, at 
Harper's Ferry. Millroy's fight, June, 1862. Martinsburg, July 25, 
1864. Winchester, September 19, 1864. Cedar Creek, October 19, 
1864, Union forces under Gen. Sheridan, Confederates under Gen. 
Early. Many were found buried where skirmishes had taken place in 
the vicinity of Winchester. At the entrance to the cemetery is the 
superintendent's lodge, and none but disabled meritorious officers or 
privates of the United States army can hold the position as superin- 
tendent, under a law in relation thereto. In the center of the grounds 
is a large mound surmounted by a flag-stafp sixty feet in height, to 
the top of which is hoisted at sunrise, and lowered at sunset, every day 
in the year, a United States flag. The cemetery is laid off in burial 
sections, there being forty-eight, some arranged by States, others con- 
taining two States. 

Interments — Known dead, 2,098; unknown dead, 2,382. 

Headstones — At known graves, 2,098; unknown, 2,382, 

Monuments — To Third Massachusetts Cavalry, cost ^1,000; to 
Sergt. Thompson, $25; to Eighth Vermont Infantry, $400; to H. M. 
Martin, $75; to Fourteenth New Hampshire, $200; to Thirty-eighth 
Massachusetts, $20. 

These two cemeteries, Confederate and Federal, lie side by side, 
and here repose the gallant dead of some of the bloodiest battles the 
wickedness of man ever devised. Who shall judge between these 
fallen heroes ? Who can deny that both were right ? They every one 
of them had the manliness to face the storm of deadly shot and shell, 
to brave the hardships of the march and the camp, to leave home and 
loved ones, and here they lie, silent till that louder trump shall 
waken them to scenes where strife is never known, where all is peace 
and concord. The same blue sky canopies their last earthly resting 
place, the same bright sun makes glad the flowers that bloom on their 
grassy mounds, and the same Eternal Eye of justice must look with 
pity equally upon these twin camps. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

Excellent schools have from the very establishment of Winchester, 
almost, been one of its main features and a source of much laudable 



212 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

pride. One hundred years ago, as shown in a previous chapter, two 
or three exceptionally fine classical schools were couducted here, and 
at no time since has there been wanting facilities for parents to edu- 
cate their children right at their own homes. In addition to the law 
school of Judge Tucker, way back in the 20s, there was in Win- 
chester, from 1855-56 until the Civil war began, a medical college 
that stood very high. There are now four excellent private schools, 
of a very high grade, all of them affording instruction that fits their 
pupils for the highest collegiate course, where that is necessary, but 
the course at either of the female schools is such that further advance- 
ment is not ordinarily required. The male academy was established 
in 1787, and has continued ever since, with the exception of the years 
during which the Civil war raged. Mr. Rhodes Massie, a graduate of 
the University of Virginia, is at the head of this institution. The 
grounds are large and there is a fine gymnasium attached. 

Fairfax Hall, established by the late Rev. Silas Billings, and now- 
conducted by his daughters, is the oldest school for young ladies in 
Winchester, having been inaugurated in 1869. The ladies in charge 
were specially educated for the woi'k they have in hand, and held im- 
portant educational positions before they entered upon their duties 
here. This seminary for young ladies is beautifully located on one of 
the finest streets of Winchester. Eight to ten teachers are employed 
and give thorough instruction in science, mathematics, languages, 
music, art and elocution. 

The Episcopal Female Institute was incorporated in 1874 under 
the administration of the Rev. J. C. Wheat, D. D. It is now under 
the management of A. Magill Smith, M. A., principal, who has brought 
this well-known institution up to a very high standard. Its alumni 
are to be found all over the country, The building is handsomely 
equipped with every comfort for pupils, including hot and cold baths, 
ample exercise grounds, and contains chemical and philosophical ap- 
paratus, a telescope of fine power, and a large library. Its course of 
instruction is broad and thorough, and nothing is left undone to insure 
an education that will fit its graduates for all honorable stations in life. 

The Valley Female College is a popular and flourishing institu- 
tion, located on the highest point within the city limits and for some 
distance around. It is situated on the exact spot selected by Wash- 
ington in 1756 for the building of Fort Loudon, and the southwestern 
bastion of that famous old fort still stands on the grounds of this insti- 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 213 

tute; in fact, a cistern is sunk into the bastion itself. The view from 
this spot is one of the most charming in the valley of the Shenandoah. 
To the east may be seen the " burly Blue Ridge," and almost the 
" brawling Shenandoah," and to the west rises the North Mountain, 
whilst at closer range loom up the earth-works erected during the late 
war, within and around which fought or fell many who have gone into 
history. Yonder Sheridan dashed along on his black charger, and 
there stood glorious Stonewall Jackson, calm, majestic, inscrutable as 
a sphynx. The location of this school is fine, but its course of instruc- 
tion, under the able management of Rev. Dr. J. P. Hyde, is all that 
can be desired. 

The Public Schools. — Until the close of the Civil war Virginia had 
no public school system. All schools were either the universities, the 
colleges, the academies, seminaries, institutes, and private, or " select" 
schools, and here and there a school for the very poor, known as a 
" charity " school. These " charity " schools were sometimes kept 
up at the expense of the city or town where they were located, 
and sometimes established through the generosity of an indvidual, 
and none but extremely poor parents ever thought of sending their 
children to them, they being patronized mostly by orphans of very in- 
digent persons. Hence, there was a certain stigma attached to these 
lower schools, not alone from the contact with poor children, whose 
rude manners may have been entailed upon them by a drunken father 
or worthless mother, but from the innate Virginian idea of independ- 
ence: that sense of not being dependent upon their fellow-men for 
material support, especially in the matter of the education of their 
children. This feeling, the result of generations of experience in 
this regard, was ingrained and set; so it can readily be imagined 
that when the "free school system" was mooted it was met with bitter 
opposition on the part of a large majority of the citizens of the com- 
monwealth. The idea of a "free" school seemed to imply the old 
"charity" school — highly repugnant and not to be thought of for an 
instant. Thus slowly do ideas grow, for to-day, and for years, the 
best people of the State have been and are upholders of the public 
schools. In accordance with an act of the General Assembly, passed 
a year or two after the war, Frederick County inaugurated the system 
without delay, and now, through the liberality of a respected citizen, 
Mr. John Kerr, Winchester has one of the finest school buildings in 
the State. Mr. Kerr donated $10,000 for the purpose of erecting the 



214 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

building, provided the city would furnish an equal amount, which it 
promptly did. It cost $20,000, is heated by steam, fitted with all 
modern improvements, and fully equipped for the work to which it is 
devoted. 

Fire Companies. — The fire department of Winchester has always 
had a reputation that seemed to be above the average in towns of its 
size. Very little damage has ever been done by fire since the three 
fire companies have been organized, which may be a coincidence, or it 
may be in consequence of the working qualities of the members. A 
few years ago considerable discussion was had, and no little feeling 
engendered, upon the subject of which was the oldest fire company in 
Winchester. Of course the "Sarah Zane" was out, there being no 
<;laim on this score by her. The "Friendship" claims to have been 
organized in January, 1831, and say that there is a tradition that the 
ladies, as far back as 1817, raised funds to uniform this company. 
The " Union " claims to be the first organized, putting their date 
down as 1833, and calling their engine No. 1. The " Sarah Zane " 
stepped in while the fight was going on, and although only organized 
in 1840, got in a steamer ahead of the balance and justly claims the 
honor of being "No. 1 steamer," having gotten their engine March 
9, 1887. The others also have steamers. They all do eJBfective work, 
are a fine set of fire laddies and an honor to old Winchester. But the 
boys did not go far enough back in their examination of the records, 
or they would have run against two companies of firemen in Win- 
chester over one hundred years ago, as has been shown by extracts 
from files of newspapers printed right here at that time and incor- 
porated in another chapter of this work. 

Improvements and Enierprises. — Frederick County has been 
blessed with many improvements running back through a long series 
of years. A branch of the Baltimore & Ohio system of railroads 
was chartered by the General Assembly of Virginia March 14, 1831, 
and soon after was put under construction. This is known as the 
Winchester & Potomac Railroad. The Valley Turnpike Company 
was chartered on March 3, 1834. A road from Washington running 
through Loudoun County was chartered and built to a point west of 
Leesburg, with its objective point the Ohio River, to run through 
Winchester, shortly before the late war. It has since been re-char- 
tered and named the Washington & Ohio Railroad, and will be put 
under construction some day. The Winchester & Strasburg Rail- 



FREDERICK COUNTY. 215 

road, an extension of the Winchester & Potomac branch of the Balti- 
more & Ohio, was chartered March 3, 1867, and shortly afterward 
completed. The extension of the Cumberland Valley branch of the 
Pennsylvania system was finished to Winchester from Martinsburg in 
the summer of 1889. 

The Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Association was organized 
March 13, 1869, with Col. Robert L. Baker, president, and James H. 
Burgess, secretary. The grounds are located just north of Win- 
chester. The following counties are represented: Frederick, Clarke, 
Warren, Shenandoah, Page and Loudoun, Va., and Berkeley, Jefifer- 
son, Hampshire, Hardy and Morgan, W. Va. The present officers 
are: Col. H. L. D. Lewis, of Clarke County, president, and E. G. 
Hollis, secretary. 

Thei'e are two banks in Winchester: Shenandoah Valley National 
Bank, with a capital of $100,000, and doing a business of over half 
a million dollars; H. S. Slagle, president; John W. Bice, cashier; H. 

D. Fuller, assistant cashier. The Union Bank, chartered 1870, capi- 
tal $50,000; paid up and doing $300,000 business; James B. Russell, 
president; M. H. G. Willis, cashier; L. N. Barton, teller. Also a 
loan and building association, with James B. Russell, president, and 
M. H. G. Willis, secretary and treasurer. 

The Shenandoah Land and Improvement Company have their office 
in this city. Incorporated April 25, 1888; S. H. Hansbrough, presi- 
dent; L. N. Barton, treasurer; J. Clifton Wheat, Jr., secretary. 

Societies. — The following fraternities, orders and societies are 
located in Winchester. Each has its hall tastefully decorated and all 
are in a flourishing condition. The Masonic Temple is one of the 
most substantial buildings in the city. The lodge room is superbly 
frescoed in Masonic devices and emblems, and is considered one of 
the finest in the State. Hiram Lodge has had an unbroken existence 
since 1768, when it was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Philadelphia, 
and has preserved its records since that time. 

Winchester Commandery K. T., No. 12, meets third Monday in 
€very month, Charles W. Hensell, eminent commander; H. Clay 
Krebs, recorder. 

John Dove Royal Arch Chapter No. 21, meets second Friday in 
every month ; Judge R. Parker, high priest ; H. C. Krebs, secretary. 

Hiram Lodge No. 21, A. F. & A. M., meets in Masonic Temple 
second Tuesday in every month; Samuel B. Baker, master; Charles 

E. Hoover, secretary. 



216 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Madison Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F., meets in Odd Fellows' Hall 
every Monday; M. Forney, noble grand; R. L. Gray, secretary. 

Shawnee Tribe No. 21, I. O. R. M., meets in Redmen's Hall every 
Tuesday; Hugh B. Striker, sachem; John I. H. Baker, chief of 
records. 

Winchester Lodge No. 65, K. of P., meets every Thursday in 
Castle Hall; E. M. Houston, CO.; William Riely, K. of R. & S. 
Endowment Rank, Section 870, K. of P., meets once in three months; 
H. D. Fuller, president; Henry Schneider, secretary. 

L O. G. T. meets every Friday in Red Men's Hall ; Hugh B. 
Striker, C. T. ; Richard Koontz, secretary. 

W. C. T. U. meets every two weeks, on Thursday, in Odd Fellows' 
Hall; Miss Lonie Kern, president; Mrs. M. H. Spotts, secretary. 

A. L. of H. No. 635, meets first and third Fridays of every month ; 
John A. Rosenberger, commander; Richard L. Gray, secretary. 

Company A, Actual Survivors Stonewall Brigade, meets in Judge 
W. L. Clark's law office, first Friday evening of each month; John H. 
AVorting, captain ; P. L. Kurtz, orderly sergeant. 

Mulligan Post No. 80, G. A. R. ; R. E. Houston, commander ; 
Joseph Potts, secretary; meets in Red Men's Hall, Friday before the 
fourth Sunday. 

STEPHENS CITY. 

Stephens City, formerly Newtown, and originally Stephensburgh, 
was erected a town by act of assembly, September, 175S. Following 
is the act: 

An act for erecting a ioivn on the land of Lewis Stephens in the 
County of Frederick. 

I. WHEREAS, it hath been represented to this present general 
assembly that Lewis Stephens, being seized and possessed of nine 
hundred acres of land, near Opeccan, in the county of Frederick, hath 
surveyed and laid out forty acres, part thereof into lots of half an acre 
each, with proper streets for a town, and hath caused a plan thereof to 
be made, and numbered from one to eighty inclusive, and hath annexed 
to each of the said lots numbered 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 
46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, five acres of land, and to each of 
the remaining sixty lots ten acres of land, part of the said nine hundred 
acres: All which lots, with the land annexed thereto, are purchased 
by different persons who are now settling and building thereon, and 
humbly desire that the same may be by act of assembly erected into 
a town, and that they may enjoy the like privileges as freeholders and 
inhabitants of other towns in this colony do enjoy. 



FREDERICK COUNTY. - 217 

Be it iherefore enacted, by the Lieutejiant Governor, Council cmd 
Burgesses, of tJiis iwesent General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted 
by the autliority of the same, That the said nine hundred acres of land, 
so surveyed and laid off by the said Lewis Stephens, be, and the same 
is hereby erected and established a town, and shall be called by the 
name of Stepheusburgh: And that the freeholders and inhabitants of 
the said town shall forever hereafter enjoy the same privileges as the 
freeholders and inhabitants of other towns erected by act of assembly, 
in this colony, do enjoy. 

Stephens City, as will be seen from the above, ranks next to Win- 
chester in age of establishment by law. Many years ago it was con- 
siderable of a manufacturing center, especially in wagons. It is located 
beautifully, and there seems to be every inducement for improvement. 
The Winchester & Strasbarg Railroad passes not far from the town. 
It contains two very neat churches, Methodist and Lutheran. In 1789 
Lewis Stephens made a deed for half an acre of ground, on the west 
side of Main Street, to trustees of the Methodist EpiscojDal Church, 
upon which lot, not long afterward, a log church was erected. The 
present edifice was built about fifty years ago. In 1799 Lewis Steph- 
ens, Jr., made a deed to trustees for two half -acre lots at the old 
graveyard for church purposes. About twenty years ago the town was 
incorporated, since which time it has a municipal government. Mr. 
Thomas H. Miller is the present mayor. From the Winchester Centinel 
of July 30, 1788, over 102 years ago, is gleaned the fact that Steph- 
eusburgh had a first-class tavern. Mr. William Glascock advertises 
that he has just opened a commodious tavern at the " Sign of the Ship," 
where he is prepared to furnish the best the market affords, including 
a "large variety of good liquors." He gives his prices as follows: 

Lodging 6d. ; Stabling Is. pr. night. 

Spirits 4d. pr. gill. 

Continental rum 3d. pr. gill. 

Wines from Is. 3d. to 3s. pr. pint. 

Toddy Is. pr. pint. 

Porter 2s. pr. bottle. 

Punch Is. 6d. pr. quart. 

Cattle kept in pasture Id. per night. 

In addition to several fine mercantile establishments there are here 

a large carriage and wagon manufactory and an extensive creamery. 

MIDDLETOWN. 

Middletown, situated south of Stephens City, is quite a bustling 
little city, it being also incorporated, and has a mayor in the person 



218 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of Dr. J. W. Larrick. It received its municipal privileges about 1878 
or 1880, and Mr. J. W. Rhodes was the first mayor. In the year 1796 
Peter Senseiiey obtained a charter for the purpose of erecting a meet- 
ing-house and school and establishing a graveyard. There are two 
churches in the town. A small Methodist Church was built at an 
early day, which gave way to the present one in 1852. F. A. Strother 
is the present pastor. The Episcopal Church is a very neat edifice. 
It was established under the auspices of Strother Jones, the Hites and 
others. It has mainly depended on the ministers of Winchester. Rev. 
Mr. Bryant and Rev. Mr. Irish were each for a time settled among 
them. Several years ago Prof. G. W. Hoenschall established a private 
normal school, which he conducted about four years, at one time hav- 
ing about 100 pupils. He moved farther up the valley. In addition 
to a number of fine stores, MiddletOwn has an extensive woolen -mill and 
a creamery. Here is located "The Middletown Immigration and 
Industrial Improvement Company," Col. John M. Miller, president, 
and C. B. Guyer, secretary. 

Kernstown and Marlborough both claim to have had the first 
church in the valley, and they certainly had places of worship at a 
very early day. There are two churches at Marlborough, Presby- 
terian and Baptist. The Presbyterian is the one claimed to have been 
the first, or rather one on the site of the present church. At Kerns- 
town the foundation walls of the old Presbyterian, or, as it is 
claimed by the Reformers, the Reformed Calvinist Church, are still 
to be seen near the little yelloAV school-house half a mile from the 
village. In the graveyard are many ancient graves and tombstones, 
the oldest by far in the entire valley being one to the memory of 
the wife and two children of a Mr. Wilson, an Irishman, who is said to 
have been the school-master of that section. The rude slab is of the 
native limestone, rudely lettered, and now almost entirely illegible. It 
bears the date 1742. Brucetown, Gainesboro and a number of other 
smaller villages and hamlets dot the county, some of which have stores, 
mills and churches. 

There are in Frederick County thirty-seven flouring-mills, includ- 
ing the largest steam roller-process mills in the State, eight woolen- 
factories and mills, one steam elevator of large capacity, two iron 
foundries, four glove factories, one boot and shoe factory, one sumac 
and bark-mill, three creameries, two canning establishments, two pot- 
teries, ten broom factories, a bottling establishment, four tanneries, 



BEKKELEY COUNTY. 219 

including oue of the largest in the State, one extensive paper-mill, 
three newspapers and a book bindery, eight cigar factories, one nov- 
elty company, two cigar-box and paper-box factories, three marble- 
yards, two furniture factories, in addition to many other industries in 
various sections of the county. In April, 1889, electricity was intro- 
duced into Winchester, and the streets of that old colonial town, along 
which Col. George Washington rode and walked for several years, 
are now among the best lighted to be found anywhere. 



CHAPTER XL 

ORGANIZATION OF BERKELEY COUNTY. 

Act of Creation— The Organization— First Justices— Their Duties 
Formulated— Sheriff, Clerk and Attorneys— Gabriel Jones and 
Alexander White— First Will— First Record of Crime— First 
Grand Jury— Inhuman Sentences— The Whipping-Post— Rate of 
Taxation— A Judgment in Favor of G. Washington— Mystery of 
"Morgan's Spring" Explained— County Seat— Building a Court 
House and Jail — Prison Bounds— Generals Horatio Gates and 
Charles Lee— A Nice Law Point— Indentured Slaves— First Case 
of Murder— The Revolutionary Period— Easy Transition— Exit 
Georgius Rex— The New Regime— " Taking the Oath"— Some Old 
Patriots— Swift-Winged Justice— The Champion Excessive Bail 
Case— Taking Care of Soldiers' Wives— Remarkable Will of Gen. 
Charles Lee— Popular Fallacies in Regard to That Erratic 
Soldier— His Real Character and Surroundings— His Death. 

UP to tlie creation of Berkeley County from the northern third of 
Frederick, the history of this section is identical with the mother 
county, and' need not be repeated here. Increase in population and 
the necessity for a seat of justice a trip to which would not require 
two or three days, were the impelling motives on the part of the in- 
habitants of the lower portion of Frederick. Therefore, at the sug- 
gestion of Gen. Adam Stephen and others, followed by a petition to 
the General Assembly of the colony of Virginia, that body was in- 
duced to grant a three-fold separation of the extensive county of 
Frederick, stretching from the Potomac to the line of Augusta, nearly 
100 miles, and from the Blue Ridge nearly to the Alleghany Mount- 
ains. The upper, or southern third was named Dunmore, in honor 



220 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of the colonial governor of that name, but which was changed to 
Shenandoah in 1777, in consequence of the public actions of his lord- 

^ ship. The middle third of course retained its original name, whilst 
the lower or northern third was named Berkeley, in honor, not of the 
infamous Lord Berkeley, the pliant tool of Charles II — the brutal 
Berkeley, who had Nathaniel Bacon assassinated, and who " thanked 
Ood,'' as has been recited in a former chapter of this work, " that no 

I schools or printing existed in the colony of Virginia " — but of Nor- 
borne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, the " good governor of Virginia," 
';as he was called, under George III. He died at Williamsburg Octo- 
ber 15, 1770, two years prior to the erection of the county, and to 
whom a statue was erected by order of the General Assembly of Vir- 
ginia, which stands in the campus of William and Mary College at 
Williamsburg, Va. The act creating the neAv county, passed in 
February, 1772, recites, that, 

" WHEREAS, Many inconveniences attend the inhabitants of the 
•county of Frederick, by reason of the great extent thereof, and the 
said inhabitants have petitioned this present General Assembly that 
the said county may be divided into three distinct counties. Be it 
therefore enacted, etc., That from and after the 15th day of May, next, 
the said county of Frederick shall be divided into three distinct 
counties." 

The act proceeds to give the boundaries of the entire district, but 
the lines including and forming Berkeley County will be sufficiently 
understood by stating that what is now Berkeley, JefPerson and Mor- 
gan Counties, was the district laid off as Berkeley. The usual direc- 
tions in regard to court days also accompanied the act. 

Pursuant to the above act, and having received commissions from 
the governor. Lord Dunmore, the gentlemen named in the commissions 
assembled on the 19th day of May, 1772, and the following is the Urst 
minute of the proceedings. 

" Berkeley County, ss. 

"Be it remembered that at the house of Edward Beeson, the 19tli 
day of May,. 1772, a commission of the peace and a commission of 
Oyer and Terminer, from his excellency. Lord Dunmore, dated the 
17th day of April, in the year aforesaid, directed to Ralph Wormley, 
Jacob Hite, Van Swearingen, Thomas Rutherford, Adam Stephen, 
John Neville, Thomas Swearingen, Samuel Washington, James Nourse, 
William Littl'e, Robert Stephen, John Briscoe, Hugh Lyle, James 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 223 

Strode, William Morgan, Robert Stogdon, James Seaton, Robert 
Carter Willis and Thomas Robinson, and also a dedimus for admin- 
istering the oath directed to the same persons, or any two of them, 
were produced and read; whereupon the said Van Swearingen, hav- 
ing first taken the usual oath to his Majesty's person and govern- 
ment, repeated and subscribed the test, taken the oaths of a justice 
of the peace, of a justice of the county court in chancery, and of a 
justice of Oyer and Terminer, which were administered to him by the 
said James Nourse and William Little, he, the said Van Swearingen, 
then administered the same oaths unto Thomas Swearingen, Samuel 
Washington, James Nourse, William Morgan, William Little, James 
Strode, Robert Stephen, Robert Stogdon, Robert Carter Willis and 
James Seaton, who severally took the same, and repeated and sub- 
scribed the test." 

Previous to the opening of the court as recited, the governor, Lord 
Dunmore, had forwarded to the gentlemen named as justices, a com- 
mission enumerating their duties, etc., the original of which is still 
preserved in the clerk's office at Martinsburg, with the bold signature 
" Dunmore" appended thereto. The document reads: 

" Virginia Set. John, Earl of Dunmore, his Majesty's Lieu- 
tenant and Governor-General of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, 
and Vice-Admiral of the same, to Ralph Wormley, Jacob Hite, Van 
Swearingen, Thomas Rutherford, etc. (naming the other justices), 
greeting: Whereas, in pursuance to an act of assembly made at a 
General Assembly begun and holden at the capital in the city of Will- 
iamsburg, in the fifth year of his present Majesty's reign, entitled 
'an act for amending the act entitled an act directing the trial of 
slaves committing capital crimes, and for the more effectual punishing 
conspiracies and insurrections of them, and for the better govern- 
ment of negroes, mulattoes, and Indians, bond or free,' the governor 
or commander-in-chief of this colony, for the time being, is desired and 
empowered to issue commissions of Oyer and Terminer, directed to the 
justices of each county, respectively, empowering them, from time to 
time, to try, condemn and execute, or otherwise punish or acquit all 
slaves committing capital crimes within their county: Know ye, there- 
fore, that I, the said John, Earl of Dunmore, by virtue of the powers 
and authorities to me given by the said act as commander-in-chief of 
this dominion, do assign and empower you, the said Ralph Wormley, 
Jacob Hite, etc., or any four or more of you, whereof any of you, the 

14 



224 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

said [named parties] shall be one, justices, in such manner, and by 
such ways and methods, as in the said acts of the General Assembly, 
are directed, prescribed and set down, to enquire of and hear and de- 
termine, all treasons, petit treasons, or misprisons thereof, felonies, 
murders or other offences, or capital crimes whatsoever, committed or 
perpetrated within the said county, by any slave or slaves whatsoever; 
for the better performance whereof, you, or any four or more of you, 
as aforesaid, are hereby required and commanded to meet at the 
courthouse of the said county, when thereunto required by the 
sheriff of the said county, for the trial of any slave or slaves, com- 
mitting any of the offences above mentioned, and any such slave or 
slaves being found guilty in such manner, and upon such evidence as 
the said acts of the General Assembly do direct, to pass judgment as 
the law directs for the like crimes, and on such judgment to award 
execution, or otherwise to acquit, as of right ought to be done, or to 
carry into execution any judgment by you given on such trial. Given 
under my hand and the seal of the Colony, at Williamsburg the 17th 
day of April, 1772, in the twelfth year of the reign of our Sovereign 
Lord, George the Third. Dunmore." 

The justices being duly sworn and their authority exhibited the 
court was formally opened and proclaimed, and at once proceeded to 
business, the gentlemen named above being present. 

William Drew, having produced a commission from the honorable 
secretary of the colony, Thomas Nelson, Esq., appointing him clerk 
of the court, and the same being read and approved by the said court, 
the said William Drew having first taken the oaths to his Majesty's 
person and government, took and subscribed the abjuration oath, and 
repeated and subscribed the test, was sworn clerk of the court. 

Adam Stephen, having produced a commission from Lord Dun- 
more as sheriff for Berkeley County, took the required oaths, gave 
bond and entered upon the duties of the ofiice. Samuel Oldham was 
appointed deputy sheriff. 

Alexander White, having produced a commission from the attorney- 
general of the colony appointing him deputy king's attorney for 
Berkeley County, took the required oaths, etc., and was sworn into the 
position named. 

Of course, there were attorneys on hand ready to help prospective 
clients out of difficulties. James Keith, John Magill, George Brent, 
George Johnston, Philip Pendleton and Alexander White applied for 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 225 

admission to practice as attorneys at the new bar just being estab- 
lished, and they severally taking all the oaths reqiiire'd were admitted 
to the privileges they sought. And these six gentlemen were no ordi- 
nary men. All of them were afterward prominent in various ways. 
James Keith, who practiced his profession over nearly the entire com- 
monwealth of Virginia for a period of about sixty -four years, in addi- 
tion to being a lawyer of note, had the remarkable experience of be- 
ing clerk of the court of Frederick County for sixty-hvo years and five 
months, as shown in that portion of this work covering Fredei-ick 
County. He entered upon his duties as clerk in the spring of 1762, 
and held it till his death in the fall of 1824. John Magill, in addi- 
tion to being a lawyer of eminence, was the progenitor of a race of 
lawyers, five or six in number, who adorned their profession for over 
half a century. George Brent was one of the brilliant men of his 
time, and George Johnston was a compeer of the famous Gabriel 
Jones, who applied for admission to practice as far back as 1743, and 
who had the good fortune to live partially through the Revolutionary 
period, he being one of the first to apply for admission to practice un- 
der the new regime, in 1770. The name of Pendleton has always 
been associated with those in the front ranks of the law, whilst Alex- 
ander White had no superior and but few equals in his profession. 
He was engaged by the Quakers, who had been sent to Winchester 
during the latter part of the war of the Revolution, from Philadel- 
phia, for giving aid and comfort to the English, He obtained the re- 
lease of the prisoners, but privately said that, although he never de- 
sired to lose any case that he undertook, yet he would have rejoiced 
to have seen the full penalty of the law enforced against those " scoun- 
drely Tories." White was also a delegate to the convention of Vir- 
ginia that ratified the Federal Constitution, and he voted to adopt it, 
having made some most powerful speeches in its favor. 

The first will to be probated was that of Dugall Campbell, and the 
first mortgage to find record was " an indenture of bargain and sale," 
from John Lemmon to Jacob Vandiveer. The church wardens were 
ordered to bind out a boy by the name of O'Neal, an orphan, to Will- 
iam Dickey. Edward Lucas produced a certificate from a constable 
vouching for the fact that said Lucas had exhibited ten hundred and 
one-quarter pounds of winter-rotted hemp, for which he was entitled 
to a bonus. 

Thomas Swearingen, gentleman, was ordered to take the list of 



226 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

tithables and wheel carriages included iu the following districts: 
From the mouth of the Opequon up the same to the Warm Spring 
road; thence down the said road to Robert Lemmon's; thence to Poto- 
mac at Mecklenburg, and return the same to court. William Mor- 
gan, William Little, James Nourse, James Seaton, James Strode, 
Robert Carter Willis, Robert Stephen, and Robert Stogdon, were also 
ordered to take lists in their various districts. Thomas Turner, James 
Quigley, Thomas Flagg, Matthias Shaw, Stephen Boyles, Henry Bed- 
dinger, Morgan Hughs, Jr., Thomas Babb, Robert Kenneday and 
William Graham, were ordered to appear and be sworn in as con- 
stables. 

The court, as indicated at the opening above, was held at the house 
of Edward Beeson, but there was as yet no jail for offenders, so the 
sheriff was ordered to " confine svicli persons as he may take into cus- 
tody at such place as may be most convenient for him, and that he 
bring in any charge that may accrue for the better securing the said 
persons, at the laying of the next county levy." Robert Worthington 
and David Shepherd were appointed coroners and sworn in, and Will- 
iam Jenkins was ordered to apply to the public printer of the colony 
for a sufficient number of law books for the use of the county. 

First record of crime appearing in the minute book of the jus- 
tices is as follows: 

" At a court held in Berkeley County the 18th day of August, 
1772, for the examination of Richard Lewis, committed upon the sus- 
picion of forging the hands of Samuel Strode and Jonah Simmons, 
present Thomas Swearingen, Robert Stephen, Robert Carter Willis, 
William Little, and James Seaton, gentlemen, justices. 

" The prisoner being sett to the Barr and being asked whether he 
was guilty of the offense wherewith he stood charged, or not guilty, 
declared that he was guilty, whereupon the prayer of the said Deft, to 
have some Punishment inflicted upon him immediately, It is ordered 
that the sheriff do take him to the Whipping-Post and give him 39 
Lashes well laid on upon the bare Back." 

What the extent of the forgery was in this case doth not appear by 
the records, and one may, from the stand-point of our highly advanced 
ideas of justice and mercy in combination, be inclined to look upon 
the sentence as severe, seeing that the prisoner promptly acknowledged 
his guilt, but it must be remembered that forgery at that primitive 
day was an extremely heinous offense — a felony, in fact — and punish- 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 227 

able to the fullest extent of man's devising, short of torture, and many 
a poor criminal had had his neck stretched for the crime named; 
therefore, the old justices were not such a heartless set as we some- 
times think they were: the times made the men and their ideas — they 
simply carried out the statutes as they knew them. The first whip- 
ping-post was probably an improvised afPair: some convenient tree or 
fence-post, but the "authorized edition," erected later, stood in front 
of where the present court-house stands. 

At this court, August, 1772, the first license to keep an ordinary 
(a tavern) was granted to John Miller, one being also granted to 
George Hilleback. Thomas Shepherd also obtained permission to 
erect a mill on a stream of water running through the town of Meck- 
lenburg (Shepherdstown). A seal for the use of the county was or- 
dered to be procured. It was made of silver, and fell into the hands 
of some thieving vandal during the late war, who carried it off and 
confiscated it, after a service of nearly 100 years. The seal of Fred- 
erick County, made 132 years ago, is still used. 

But here is an item recorded September 15, 1772, that is of interest 
in these centennial times: Col. Samuel Washington, a relative of the 
immortal George, and one of the justices, who the year before (1771) 
whilst serving as colonel of the militia of Frederick County had ap- 
pointed the "old wagoner," Daniel Morgan, a captain of militia, asked 
"permission to erect a water grist-mill on Bullskin Run, on the land 
he purchased of Philip Pendleton." 

As a matter for preservation the following "first grand jury" is 
copied: John Smith, foreman; Hezekiah Swearingen, Josiah Swear- 
ingen, Joseph Barnes, Martin Antler, Joseph Turner, Abraham Smith, 
John Taylor, Samuel Taylor, Jonathan Simmons, George Cunning- ^ 
ham, AVilliam McOonnell, Jacob Beller, Andrew McCormick, Matt 
Duncan, John Sewell, Thomas Lafferty and George Creamer. No 
presentments were returned, which is quite commendable in the in- 
habitants of the new county. In those old colonial, kingly days 
offenders had to hide their deeds pretty securely, and when caught there 
Avas not much dilly-dallying with the culprit. In nearly all cases 
when an alleged criminal was brought before the justices they asked 
him a few questions, examined a witness or two, and then decided for 
themselves, immediately discharging the prisoner, or sending him off 
at once for punishment. But there was one practice that stands as an 
eternal disgrace, even for that age. It was so inhuman that it is a 



228 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

wonder that even the cold judicial hearts o£ those who awarded the pun- 
ishment in the cases referred to, did not rebel against the barbarity of it. 
It was in accordance with law, but still that law was flexible. It orig- 
inated in the midst of fanatical religious excitement in Eugland, at 
a time when the law-makers thought they were doing the Almighty a 
favor by anticipating his after-death punishments. The burning of 
alleged witches was an outgrowth of this same fanaticism, and it 
would have been less improper by Cotton Mather and his descendants, 
but how the Cavaliers ever tolerated the relic of barbarism is strange 
indeed. What is referred to is the whipping of females because they 
were wronged and bore the frait of their sin. A delicate girl being 
arraigned before the justices charged with illegally bearing a child, 
would almost invariably be sentenced to be "taken to the common 
whipping-post and receive twenty-five lashes on her bare back well 
laid on." Imagine the poor weeping girl, with her delicate back 
bared, tied with her arms clasping the post, shuddering and quivering 
beneath the cruel strokes of the ferocious executioner. And these 
things were done almost up to the declaration of Independence, 
scarcely more than 100 years ago. It is astonishing how slowly prog- 
ress progresses. 

November 17, 1772, the first county levy was laid, the amount 
being £591 3s. Od. ; the number of tithables were 2,252, and the rate 
5s. 3d. After paying off the entire indebtedness of the county and 
appropriating £450 (nearly ^2,200) for the building of a court-house 
and jail, the sheriff had in his hands at the next levy nearly ^75. But 
here is an item referring to that illustrious man, auy fact in regard to 
whom is now valued, be it ever so insignificant. 

"Nov. 18, 1772, on the motion of Col. George Washington, judg- 
ment is granted him on a replevying bond against David Kennedy 
and James McCormick, legal notice having been given them." 

This is the only mention of the " f atlier of his country" within the 
covers of the Berkeley records. Washington was the owner of several 
tracts of land in the eastern portion of Berkeley County, now Jeffer- 
son, and the suit indicated above was, possibly, instituted for the 
recovery of payment for the purchase of land. 

James Keith, the old clerk and lawyer, was appointed overseer of 
the road from his mill into the road leading to Sniggers' Ferry. This 
adds another occupation to the busy old gentleman. November 20, 
John Nevill, in whose house the jail was kept, as will be shown further 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 229 

along, James Seaton and James Strode, gents, were appointed to lay 
off the prison bounds. The first case of counterfeiting was reported 
at this court: William Merchant and Barnaby Hagan were convicted 
of counterfeiting money of the coin of this colony, and sentenced to 
give bonds in the sum of £50 each for their good behavior. The fol- 
lowing entry found at the close of the proceedings of one of the ses- 
sions of the November term of the court has always puzzled those who 
have given the matter any thought: 

"Adam Stephen, Esq., having produced a writ from the secretary's 
office adjourning the court to Morgan's Spring, on the lands of the 
said Stephen, in this county, which being read, ordered that the court 
do adjourn until to-morrow morning, nine o'clock, and then to meet at 
the place of adjournment, according to said writ." 

Now where was the Morgan's Spring alluded to? The first 
thought is of the famous spring on the place of Col. W. A. Morgan, 
near Shepherdstown. Jefferson at that time being a portion of Berk- 
eley County, clearly that would seem to be the locality. But it was 
not, for several reasons: Adam Stephen never owned the laud on which 
is located the spring named, as it happens that the Morgan plantation 
has never passed out of the possession of the descendants of Kichard 
Morgan, who obtained his grant from Gov. Gooch away back in 1730, 
or thereabouts. Another reason is that Stephen would not have 
schemed to take the county seat away from his town, Martinsburg, 
which, although not named nor established by law as yet, was ten or 
a dozen years old at that time, and contained a mill and a number of 
houses and taverns. Another family of Morgans lived up near Bunker 
Hill, but Adam Stephen would not have moved the court there; his 
land was all around and in Martinsburg, and he had every motive to 
keep the court-house here. The only conclusion that can be arrived 
at is that the spring which has been known as the Town, or Stephen's 
Spring, by some now unexplainable process became known as Morgan's 
Spring, which afterward fell into disuse. The only plausible theory 
in regard to the name is this: Morgan Morgan, the first justice named 
in the commission of the peace for Frederick County, was a very early 
settler in this section, he being put down as being here as early as 
1^26 by one historian. Morgan owned many thousands of acres of 
land, and it is possible (although the writer has no data for the asser- 
tion save what is here given) that he may have originally owned the 
land upon which the "Morgan Spring," alluded to, was located. 



230 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Certain it is, however, that the county seat Avas never moved away 
from where it now is. It was moved from Beeson's house which stood 
a short distance north of the city of Martinsburg in/o the town, and 
until the building of the court-house the court Avas held in a house 
belonging to Joseph Mitchell, and a building belonging to John Nev- 
ill was rented for a jail. These facts are established by the county 
levies, wherein it appears that " Joseph Mitchell was paid the sum of 
£7:10 for the use of his house as a court-house," and "John Nevill 
was paid the sum of £5 for the use of his house as a jail." 

Where did Joseph Mitchell live? In confirmation of the suppo- 
sition that he lived in Martinsburg there is a minute on the records 
which states that Joseph Mitchell and three others were appointed to 
"view the ground for a road from Martinsburg to the Opeckon." 
Also to "view ground for a road from Winchester by the AVatkin's 
Ferry road to run through Martinsburg." The court was moved to 
the house of Isaac Taylor about 1774, as the next levy shows that he 
was paid £5 for the "use of his house to hold court in." The court- 
house was not finished for several years after the last date given. 
Joseph Mitchell served in the Continental army as a captain, and is 
said to have joined Daniel Morgan at the famous spring in the fall of 
1775. After his return he kept a tavern. 

The writer has thoroughly examined the records in regard to the 
" Morgan's Spring allusion," and has given the result thereof, from 
which there can be no doubt of the inference — that Martinsburg 
always has been the seat of justice for Berkeley. And in regard to 
that story of a serious contest between Adam Stephen and Jacob Hite, 
related by Kercheval, over the location of the county seat, which re- 
sulted in the death, indirectly, of Hite, there appears not one iota of 
evidence of a contest upon the records. The justices advertised for 
some one to build the court-house and jail, their proposition was 
accepted, and the buildings erected in Martinsburg as a matter of 
course. 

November 15, 1772, the justices ordered the sheriff to advertise 
the letting to the lowest bidder of the building of a public jail, to 
be thirty-six feet long and thirty feet wide, with three rooms on a 
floor, and the walls to be built of stone and lined with two-inch plank, 
a plan of which was to be exhibited in December. At the same time 
the letting of the building of a court-house of stone was to take place, 
a plan of which was also to be furnished. Adam Stephen appeared 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 231 

before the court and agreed to provide at his own expense all the plank 
and scantling for the building of the court-house, and have the same 
ready at his mill when he should be called upon, and that he would 
also donate an acre of ground upon which the proposed buildings 
should be placed. This generous proposition was made, it appears, 
with the provision that work should immediately commence by the 
county. Work did not begin, however, for the records state that 
Sheriff Stephen appeared before the justices on the 19th of January 
following and canceled a portion of his proposed gift. He would give 
the stone and an acre of land, but not the lumber, which made a vast 
difference, Avhen one considers with what prodigality nature has blessed 
this particular locality with fine building limestone, and as to an acre 
of land at that date, it was a mere bagatelle. Anybody could have an 
acre or more anywhere, almost, if he would put a building upon it. 

At this same session of the January court, the justices promul- 
gated the following order: "That Van Swearingen, Thomas Swear- 
ingen, James Nourse and James Strode, gents., or any two of them, do, 
on the 19th day of April next, let to the lowest bidder, the building 
the court-house and gaol for the county, agreeably to the plans which 
are now lodged in the clerk's ofiice; and it is ordered that the said 
gents., if they think it necessary to make any little alteration in the 
said plans, at the letting the said building, that they are hereby em- 
powered so to do; and it is further ordered that the clerk of the court 
do advertise the letting the said court-house and gaol in the Virginia 
and Maryland Gazettes if he can conveniently do it." 

The contract was duly advertised, but no bidder came forward, and 
in June the sheriff was again ordered to advertise the matter. Con- 
tractors seem to have been scarce, and not until August were the jus- 
tices able to get any one to undertake the job. William Brown agreed 
to accept the contract, with the proviso that he receive in advance half 
the stipulated sum to be paid therefor, which sum (£400) was handed 
to him on the 18th of August. The remaining £412 was to be paid 
him as the work advanced. An alteration in the original plan of the 
court-house was made, so that the seat of the justices and the back wall 
of that building should be circular in form, instead of square, as at 
first proposed. The building of the court-house moved along slowly, 
but by December of the next year, 1774, the jail was completed and 
turned over to the authorities. Robert Cockburn, the county surveyor, 
was ordered to lay off ten acres as prison bounds to include the court- 



232 HISTORY OF THE LOWEE SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

house and jail, and that a stone be set up at each of the four corners of 
the "bounds," to mark the same. Stocks and a pillory were erected 
about this. time. In this connection it is appropriate to state that the 
thoughtful justices ordered that the price of liquors in Berkeley should 
be the same as in Frederick County. 

Work on the court-house must have progressed exceedingly slowly, 
or to have ceased entirely for several years, for as late as March 18, 
1778, the justices ordered a committee of their board to agree with 
workmen to finish the court-house, "in accordance with the plans of 
the original contractor, who had gone into the service of his country," 
which slight entry on that old order book tells a tale highly honor- 
able to the old contractor, William Brown, who preferred helping his 
struggling countrymen on the field of battle to making money at 
home. 

In September James McAllister was ordered to procure window 
glass for the use of the court-house, and the "finishing the court- 
house " was ordered to be let to the lowest bidder on the third Tues- 
day of March, 1779, £500 being appropriated for that purpose. The 
contract was advertised three times in the Virginia Gazette. By 1780 
the building was completed at last and was used till the present one 
was built. 

January 15, 1773, Horatio Gates, afterward a noted general in the 
Revolutionary army, was appointed a justice in the new commission 
of the peace, among a number of others. Gates was also appointed 
to take the list of tithables and wheel-carriages from Opeckon, where 
the Warm Spring road crosses up the same to Jonathan Seaman's, 
thence down the road to the county line at Yestall's ford; thence to 
Potomac and up the same to Mecklenburg; thence up the road to 
Robert Lemmon's; thence with the Warm Spring road to Opeckon. 
Later on an allusion is made to another historic character, one of "the 
famous trio who came out of the Revolution in disgrace, and who 
lived in Berkeley County at the time indicated: In laying off roads and 
appointing overseers of the same, a road is specified as running 
"from the cross roads opposite Gen. Horatio Gates to the bridge, in- 
cluding the bridge at Gen. Charles Lee's plantation," These old 
extracts take one back to historic times, and bring fresh to the mind 
scenes that were not only fraught with moment to the struggling 
colonies, but painful to all concerned. 

A case involving a nice point of law came up before the court of jus- 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 233 

tices iu 1773: John Potts was arrested aud arraigned for feloniously as- 
saulting Jude Mackail, and her evidence was alone and unsupported. 
- Jude was a Roman Catholic, so Pott's attorney sprang the point on her 
that before she could testify she must take the oath of " allegiance, abju- 
ration and supremacy," which was necessary on the part of all who sought 
anything at the hands of the supporters of King George. The oath in- 
dicated avowed entire adherence to the English sovereign, and rejected 
the Pope and all things papistical. The attorney knew she would not 
dare, in the face of her religion, take such an obligation, and the 
point was admirably taken, but the old justices with singular justice 
admitted her testimony without the " test," yet when they came to a 
verdict they pronounced Potts not guilty, evidently balancing matters, 
as it were, and reconciling their consciences for having permitted 
themselves in the cause of justice to swerve away from the land- 
marks established by their divinely appointed sovereign, b i--"*'**^'^s v *' «**w^ 

Martinsburg w^as so known by name at this time, 1773, and long 
before that period, as is shown by various parties being made over- 
seers of roads in that town, although its establishment and regular 
christening did not occur till 1778. 

At March court, " On the motion of Richard Stephenson, ordered 
that John Sevanick serve his master, Valentine Crawford, 196 days 
after his time of indenture has expired, agreeable to act of assembly, 
for absenting himself from his master's service; and three years and 
a half and thirty-one days, or pay fifteen pounds, thirteen shillings 
and three pence, for expenses and apprehending him." That was the 
plan by which when a servant once became indentured, he Avas held 
frequently for the natural term of his life. The greater number of 
these indentured persons were brought from Ireland. They were too 
poor to pay their own passage money and sold a stipulated portion of 
their time to men who made a business of bringing them over. But 
woe to the poor man or woman who would fall into the hands of such 
tyrants as the Stephenson named above. In cases of that character 
the servant was as much a slave to his master as any negro ever was. 
There was no escape for him, for the law upheld the master.- In 
many cases where these servants ran away the master was privileged 
to put an iron collar upon the unfortunate, to place fetters about their 
wrists, and to shave their heads and eyebrows, as has been shown in 
another portion of this work. There was a bonus offered to persons 
who would bring into the colony these servants, and an item of the 



234 HISTOBY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

proceedings of a session of the court held January 17, 1775, shows 
the fact. It reads: " James Nourse made oath that he had imported 
fourteen persons into this colony from Great Britain, and that he had 
not as yet received the land to which he was entitled for so doing." 

The first case of murder after the creation of the county occurred 
in April, 1776, as on the 27th the prisoner was arraigned before 
the justices, who, after an examination, sent her on to Williamsburg 
for trial. The person charged was Mary Howard, and her alleged 
victim was her own infant. What became of the case is not stated. 

It may be a matter of interest to the reader to know the process by 
which the transition from monarchial to republican allegiance was 
effected. The records show the transformation, but it is all so much a 
matter of course, and so easily done, that one would pass over it, were 
he not looking especially for the facts in relation thereto. The old 
justices and all the balance of the other officers stepped so impercep- 
tibly into the new harness and began to pull the other way so readily, 
that they appeared as if they had been accustomed to it all their lives. 
The entry in the order book is as follows: 

"An ordinance of the Honorable Convention of this Commonwealth 
of Virginia directing that the different members named in the former 
commission of the peace should continue to act in the said oflice, upon 
their taking the oath prescribed by the said ordinance, was read, 
Whereupon Robert Carter Willis and John Cook administered the 
said oath to Samuel Washington, who took the same and then the said 
Samuel Washington administered the said oath to all the aforesaid 
members, who took the same as Justices of the Commonwealth." 

The justices requested to serve were those appointed by Lord 
Dunmore in April, 1773, and were: Ralph Wormley, Adam Stephen, 
John Nevill, Samuel Washington, Robert Stephen, Robert Carter 
Willis, Robert Tabb, Horatio jGates, John Throckmorton, Thomas 
Lowry, John Cooke, John Aviss, Godwin Swift, William Patterson, 
Henry Whiting, Robert Worthington, Morgan Morgan and William 
McGaw. ■ 

December 9, 1776, a new commission was granted, under the 
authority of the "Commonwealth of Virginia," and the following 
gentlemen were named for Berkeley County: Adam Stephen, John 
Nevill, Samuel Washington, Robert Stephen, Robert Carter Willis, 
Horatio Gates, John Cooke, John Aviss, Godwin Swift, William 
Patterson, Henry Whiting, Robert Worthington, Morgan Morgan, 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 235 

William McGaw, James McAlister, Anthony Nobles, John Morrow, 
Robert Throckmorton, John Gaunt, Walter Baker, George Grundy 
and George Cunningham. The duties of the justices Avere about the 
same as under English rule, but all allusions to "Our Sovereign 
Lord," etc., were conspicuously absent, as well as those clauses 
instructing the justices to "defend the name of the King" and his 
government, and to "punish all treasonable practices." 

This important proceeding occurred August 20, 1776, and busi- 
ness went on as usual, there not being one solitary objector or flincher 
in the entire body, which is more than can be said of grand old 
Frederick County, where several of the justices declined to serve 
under the new regime, and Thomas Bryan Martin, after whom hisi 
friend, Adam Stephen, named Martinsburg, was one of them, too, who, 
flatly refused to serve. But those who failed to come to time in those 
"trying days" were, possibly, under the influence of Lord Fairfax, 
who also refused, although he was chief justice of Frederick County. 

To return to Berkeley: William Drew stepped forward and was 
sworn in as clerk, under " His Excellency Patrick Henry," and 
Messrs. Alexander White, Philip Pendleton, John Magill, Henry 
Peyton and Dolphin Drew flung down the gauntlet to Georgius Bex 
by taking the oath of fealty to the commonwealth of Virginia and 
having their names registered as attorneys. 

Samuel Washington was recommended to the governor as a suita- 
ble person for sheriff, the incumbent at that time being engaged in 
the service of his country and stationed at Fort Pitt. The incumbent 
must have been Gen. Adam Stephen, although John Nevill had been 
filling the position of sheriff for some time; at least he is recorded as 
having been appointed in 1775, possibly only temporarily, after Gen. 
Stephen had departed for the seat of war. David Hunter was ap- 
pointed jailor. 

John Skelding was appointed deputy clerk of the court during the 
absence of William Drew, the clerk, and in this connection, as show- 
ing the current feeling and English intolerance of the time, the fol- 
lowing "test" is here printed. It is to be found at the back of one 
of the minute books and is signed by John Skelding, evidently placed 
there when he was appointed deputy clerk. It was necessary for 
officers, when being sworn in, to repeat and " subscribe " this so- 
called " test," and a singular fact in connection with this particular 
case is that it was enforced after Virginia had cut loose from English 
domination. But here is the brilliant gem: 



23(3 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

"I do declare that I believe that there is not any Transubstantia- 
tion in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper or in the Elements of 
of Bread and Wine at or after the consecration thereof by any person 
whatsoever. John Skelding." 

In a former chapter of this work a case of speedy vindication of 
the law is given in the primitive times before 1800, but the appended 
example in this county rather throws into the shade any attempt in 
that line made in Frederick. The entire proceedings as recorded, 
November 20, 1776, are contained in one simple paragraph to the fol- 
lowing effect: 

" Proclamation being made for the trial of Nace, a negro man 
belonging to General Horatio Gates, committed to the gaol of 
this county, and for breaking open the cellar of the said General 
Gates, and feloniously taking from thence a chest of money and 
clothes ; who, being brought to the bar, and it being demanded of him 
whether he was guilty of the offence wherewith he stands charged, or 
not guilty, he says he is guilty. It is therefore the judgment of the 
Court that he be remanded back to the gaol, from whence he came, 
and there to continue till the third Friday in December next, then 
from thence to be taken and hanged by the neck till he is dead. It 
is the opinion of the court that the said slave is worth seventy 
pounds." 

This was the first execution in Martinsburg, and it will be noticed 
that the law was not only vindicated but the owner lost nothing by 
the death of his slave. 

April 3, 1777, Col. Samuel Washington, in consequence of his 
health, which rendered him unfit for public business, requested leave 
to resign his commission as county lieutenant, which was granted 
and Van Swearingen was appointed in his place. Philip Pendleton 
was appointed in the place of Van Swearingen who was colonel of 
militia, and Robert Carter Willis in the place of Pendleton, who was 
lieutenant-colonel of militia. Col. AVashington did not long remain 
inactive, for in two Aveeks' time from the date given, he entered the 
Continental army and was a gallant officer to the close of the great 
struggle. K' ■ ■' 

Berkeley was not behind in taking care of the wives and widows of 
the gallant soldiers Avho left their happy homes and comfortable fire- 
sides, and risked their lives and health in northern snows and south- 
ern marshes. She contributed liberally, not only in men and the 



BEllKELEY COUNTY. 237 

munitions of war, but gave sums of money to numbers of families 
that had- been left helpless by the departure of a husband, father, son, 
or brother. Rachel Stewart, wife of William Stewart was allowed ^15 
for her present support; sums were given to the family of John 
Mitchell ; the wife of John McDonald ; wife of John Swan ; wife of 
William Mathenger; wife of Joseph Bowers, and a number of others. 
And the old patriots were going to be sure that no Tories were around, 
for they appointed Mr. William Pattison to administer the oath of 
fidelity to any and everybody, and particularly to those whom they 
suspected of being tainted with " disloyalty." Mr. John Morrow was 
also appointed to perform the pleasant task of oath-administering. 
As previously stated, under circumstances quite similar in Frederick, 
that little trick of " making 'em take the oath " duplicated itself in a 
very " modern instance," and it is possible the reminder may bring 
to the faces of not a few of the elderly and middle-aged citizens of 
Berkeley something akin to a smile, as their memories run back to 
provost marshals and other high and low dignitaries of the era of 
1861-65. 

The Revolution was now at its great turning point, 1778, although 
the end was far off as yet. Very few of the able-bodied men remained 
at home during those wild and uncertain times; and although the 
contest waged hundreds of miles away, yet the Yalley continued to 
contribute its more than quota, when compared with the denser popu- 
lated districts nearer the seaboard. It had furnished at least five of 
the great leaders, and no matter what apparent disgrace has attached 
to the names of two or three of them, through circumstances that 
may have had palliating conditions, yet they were undoubtedly patri- 
otic and did voluntarily what they could have evaded had they chosen 
so to do, and in regard to one of whom, at least, the writer may have 
something to say further along. 

Among the many cases tried before the justices the following, be- 
yond a doubt, stands without a parallel, in one feature, at least, as it 
certainly is the champion "excessive bail" case on record. It hap- 
pened March 17, 1778. James McGonigall, a son of Erin, was ar- 
raigned before the court charged with creating a riot in Martinsburg, 
and after listening to witnesses the prisoner was remanded to jail in 
default of furnishing bail — the amount of which was set at £10,000, 
nearly $50,000, which at that day was equal in purchasing power to 
over $100,000! There is no mistake in the figures, for it is repeated two 



238 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

or three times. Just what kind of a riot Mr. McGonigall created by 
himself (no one else being charged with the ofPense appearing by the 
records) is difficult to determine, but it must have been terribly flag- 
rant, or the justices were very predjudiced. Yet, a glance at the date 
may partially ex])lain the matter, for be it remembered that the 17tli 
of March is St. Patrick's Day. Possibly Jimmy was celebrating the 
natal day of his patron saint and took aboard too much of the "cray- 
thur" and got into a "bit of a discushion" with a gentleman also 
loaded to the muzzle. But he was not permitted to languish long 
behind the bars, for such prominent endorsers as Michael McKewen, 
William Patterson and James Millin came to his aid and had him 
released. 

Among the old documents preserved in the clerk's office of Berke- 
ley County is the following will of Maj-Gen. Charles Lee, one of the 
most eccentric as well as highly educated officers of the Revolution. He 
was an Englishman and in no way connected with the other Lees of 
Revolutionary fame. He left no descendants. The document is re- 
produced here entire, and gives a clearer insight into the man's char- 
acter than comments can convey. 

" I, Major General Charles Lee of the county of Berkeley in the 
Commonwealth of Virginia, being in perfect health and of a sound 
mind, considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the 
time it may happen, have determined to make this my last Will and 
Testament in manner following. That is to say I give and bequeath to 
Alexander White, Esquire, one hundred Guineas in consideration of the 
zeal and integrity he has displayed in the Administration of my 
affairs. Also the choice of any two of my Colts or Fillies under four 
years of age. Item, I give and bequeath to Charles Minn Thruston 
Esquire Fifty Guineas in consideration of his good qualities, and the 
friendship he has manifested for me, and to Buckner Thruston, his 
son, I leave all my books, as I know he will make a good use of them. 
To my good Friend John Mercer Esquire of Marlbrough in Virginia 
I give and bequeath the choice of Two Brood Mares, of all my Swords 
and Pistols, and Ten Guineas to buy a Ring. I would give him more 
but as he has a good estate and a better genius he has sufficient if he 
knows how to make a good use of them. I give and bequeath to my 
former Aid de Camp Otway Bird Esquire the choice of another brood 
mare, and Ten guineas for the same purpose of a remembrance Ring. 
I give and bequeath to my worthy Friend Colonel William Grayson 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 239 

of Dumfries the second choice of two colts and to my excellent Friend 
William Steptoe of Virginia I would leave a great deal, but as he is 
now so rich, it would be no less than robbing my other friends who 
are poor. I therefore intreat he will only accept of five Guineas, 
which I bequeath to him to purchase a Ring of affection. I bequeath 
to my old and faithful servant, or rather humble Friend Giusippj 
Minghini, three hundred Guineas with all my Horses, Mares and Colts 
of every Kind, those above mentioned excepted, likewise all my wear- 
ing apparel and plate, my Wagons and Tools of Agriculture, and his 
choice of four milch Cows. I bequeath to Elizabeth Dun my House- 
keeper one Hundred Guineas and my whole stock of Cattle (the four 
milch cows above mentioned only excepted) I had almost forgot my 
dear friends (and I ought to be ashamed of it) Mrs. Shippen, her son 
Thomas Shippen and Thomas Lee Esquire of Belle View. I beg 
they will accept Ten Guineas each to buy Rings of affection. 

" My Landed Estate in Berkeley I desire may be divided in three 
equal parts according to Quality and Quantity. One third part I 
devise to my dear Friend Jacob Morris of Philadelphia. One other 
third part to Evan Edwards both my former Aid de Camps and to their 
Heirs and Assigns. The other third part I devise to Eleazer Oswald 
at present of Philadelphia and William Goddart of Baltimore (to 
whom I am under obligations) and to their Heirs and Assigns, to be 
equally divided between them. But these Divisions are not to enter 
until they have paid off the severa) Legacies above mentioned with 
interest from the time of my death, and all taxes which may be due 
on my Estate. In case I should sell my Landed Estate I bequeath the 
price thereof (after paving the above Legacies) to the said Jacob 
Morris, Evan Edwards, Eleazer Oswald and William Goddart in the 
proportions above mentioned. All my Slaves of which I may be pos- 
sessed at the time of my decease I bequeath to Giusippi Minghini and 
Elizabeth Dun to be equally divided between them. All my other 
property of every kind, and in every part of the world (after my Debts 
Funeral charges and necessary expenses of Administration are paid) 
I give devise and bequeath to my sister Sidney Lee her Heirs and 
Assigns forever. 

" I desire most earnestly that I may not be buried in any Church or 
Churchyard, or within a mile of any Presbyterian or Anabaptist Meet- 
ing house, for since I have resided in this country I have kept so 
much bad company when living, that I do not chuse to continue it 



240 HISTOllY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

when dead. I recommend my soul to the Creator of all Worlds and 
all Creatures, who must from his Visible Attributes be indifferent to 
their modes of Worship or Creeds, whether Christians, Mahometans or 
Jews, whether instilled by education or taken up by reflection, whether 
more or less absurd, as a weak mortal can no more be answerable for 
his persuasions, notions or even scepticism in Religion than for the 
colour of his skin. And I do appoint the above mentioned Alexander 
White and Charles Minn Thruston Executors of this my Last Will and 
Testament, and do revoke all former and other wills by me heretofore 
made. 

"In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 

day of , in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven 

Hundred and Eighty-Two. Charles Lee. 

"Signed, sealed, published and delivered by the said Major Gen- 
eral Charles Lee, as and for his last will and testament in presence 
of " James Smith. 

"Saml. Swearingen. 
" William Garrard." 

The character of Gen. Charles Lee was a singular admixture of 
great talents, educational advantages, ambition, bravery, and more 
than ordinary military skill, combined with such lack of principle in 
the attainment of his ends that it overshadowed and blotted out the 
good that was in him. He is said to have been born in Wales, but 
was educated in England and was an Englishman to all intents and 
purposes. He entered the military service at a very early age, and 
was with Braddock in his disastrous campaign wherein that general 
lost his life. At Ticouderoga Lee was a captain of grenadiers, 
and afterward, as a colonel, he was with Burgoyne in the Spanish 
wars. Leaving the British service in consequence of some real, or 
fancied grievance, he became a soldier of fortune, and fought in Ger- 
many, Poland and Italy. In the latter country he fought a duel with 
an Italian ofiicer, and killing him, he had to fly. Coming to America 
about 1773, he shortly afterward purchased the estate referred to in 
his will, in Berkeley County, now in Jefferson, the little hamlet of 
Leetown being called after him. 

When matters began assuming a belligerent attitude in the colonies, 
Gen. Lee warmly espoused the American cause, and urged immediate 
armed resistance. The Continental Congress appointed him second of 
the five major-generals under Washington, much to the disappoint- 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 241 

ment of Lee, who desired to be commander-iD -chief. The jealousy of 
Lee continuing, his military career was cut short after the battle of 
Monmouth, where he behaved so that Washington ordered him to 
the rear; a court-martial followed, which found him "guilty of dis- 
obedience, misbehavior before the enemy, and disrespect to the com- 
mander-in-chief," and was suspended from all command for twelve 
months. This punishment not quelling him, and he continuing to 
abuse Washington and criticise the court-martial that condemned him, 
in addition to an impertinent letter, Congress finally dismissed him 
from service. 

Retiring to his estate in Berkeley County he lived the life of a half 
recluse, although he had the companionship of two other worthies, of 
whom mention will be made hereafter. The house of Gen. Lee was a 
one-storied afEair, but evidently comfortable for the period, and not at 
all in accordance with the descriptions given by the historians from 
Bancroft down, who try to make it appear that Lee lived in a hovel 
with his dogs, etc. His will gives the contradiction to those asser- 
tions, for a man who has a housekeeper and a valet, or personal serv- 
ant, and slaves, in addition to numbers of horses, fillies and milch 
cows, can hardly be considered as living in a "hovel," in comparative 
destitution with his canines. It is true he had many dogs, for Jie was 
fond of hunting, and it is said that he freely distributed his game 
among his poorer neighbors and his slaves. The Giusippi Minghini, 
spoken of in the will, remained in this county, and has descendants 
by the same name now living here, one in Martinsburg. In 1814 an 
advertisement appears in the Martinsburg Gazette signed Joseph Min- 
ghini, offering for sale a quantity of personal property at " Sulphur 
Spring, on the Opeckon." This Giusippi Minghini came from Italy 
with Gen. Lee, as his valet, when he fled from that country after the 
duel with the officer whom he killed. As will be seen by the date, 
the will of Lee was made in 1782, probably in the spring, as he went 
to the East in the early part of the summer, visiting the seaboard cit- 
ies. In Philadelphia at one of the public houses he was taken sick 
and died October 2 of the year last named, 1782. His dying words, 
true to the character of this gallant though misguided and over-am- 
bitious soldier, were: "Stand by me, my brave grenadiers." 



242 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



CHAPTER XIL 
ESTABLISHMENT OF MAETINSBURG. 

Martinsburg Before 1773— The Act Establishing the Town — Made the 
County Seat— Naming the Stripling— Thomas Bryan Martin— Gen. 
Adam Stephen— Sketch or the Career of that Gallant and Skill- 
ful Though Unfortunate Soldier— A Candidate Against Washing- 
ton— Theories— An Election in 1789 — An Ancient Poll List— A 
Candidate's Card— A Boom in Martinsburg— Mr. Butler's Tavern 
—Fine Liquors— Gen. Daniel Morgan and Congressman Ruther- 
ford—General vs. Statesman— Rutherford's Little Joke— Berk- 
eley IN THE Revolution— Gen. William Darke — Gen. Horatio 
Gates — "With Braddock" — Morgan Morgan— Four Noted Minis- 
ters — The Bedingers — Col. Crawford and Gen. Jessup— Felix 
' Grundy, Nathaniel Willis and -John R. Cook— Sketch of the 
Career of Hon. Charles James Faulkner. 

MARTINSBURG, the now beautiful and thriving little city, was 
laid out, or at least had considerable of a nucleus many years 
before the Revolution, and was at first called Martinstown or Martins- 
ville. The proprietor, Adam Stephen, proposed naming it after him- 
self, but as there was already a Stephensburg farther up the valley, 
that name had to be abandoned. He consequently named the town 
in honor of his friend. Col. Thomas Bryan Martin, one of the justices 
of the peace of Frederick County, and a relative of Lord Fairfax. 
Martin was a justice of the peace when the Revolution broke out, 
and was reappointed upon the new commission by Gov. Patrick 
Henry under the new regime, but he refused to serve, evidently think- 
ing that a set of half -civilized and poorly armed inhabitants of a wild 
country would not give more than pastime to England's powerful ar- 
mies and fleets, and it must, indeed, have appeared so to many. Col. 
Martin, however, must have been a man of prominence, for he ran for 
the House of Burgesses in 1758, at the same time that Washington, 
Thomas Swearingen and Hugh West ran, and, with the immortal 
George was elected, the vote being: Washington, 310; Martin, 240; 
Hugh West, 199 ; Swearingen, 45. The first two were elected. 

At the creation of the county in 1772 the town possibly had 
twenty or thirty houses in it, most of which were situated along the 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 243 

Tuscarora and about the "spring." Stephen had in operation a mill 
and there were two or three, at least, ordinaries, or taverns, and two 
stores, a blacksmith shop and a shoemaker. This was five or six 
years before the town was established by act of the General Assembly. 
Martinsburg, after Winchester and Shej^herdstown, and possibly 
Charlestown was the most important settlement in the lower valley. 
It was on the great road from up the valley to the Warm Springs, 
now Berkeley Springs, a locality spoken of as early as 1760, or before. 
The Indians had used those springs long before the whites discovered 
them, and it is possible that even the ancient Mound Builders laved 
their bodies in them. 

During the height of the Revolutionary struggle Adam Stephen 
applied to the General Assembly of the commonwealth to have his 
town established by enactment, which was accordingly granted in 
October, 1778. Following is the act of assembly: 

An act for esiablisiiing the town of Martinsburg, in the County of 

Berkeley, and for other purposes. 

WHEREAS, It hath been represented to this present General 
Assembly, that Adam Stephen, Esq., hath lately laid off one hundred 
and thirty acres of land in the County of Berkeley, where the Court 
House of said county now stands, in lots and streets for a town, and 
hath made sale of several of the said lots to divers persons, some of 
W'hom have since settled and built thereon, and whereas it would tend 
to the more speedy improvement and settling the same if the free- 
holders and inhabitants thereof should be entitled to the like privileges 
enjoyed by the freeholders and inhabitants of other towns in this State: 

Be it therefore enacted by this present General Assembly, That 
the said one hundred and thirty acres of land laid out in lots and 
streets, agreeable to a plan and survey, relation thereunto being had, 
may more fully appear, be, and the same is hereby vested in James 
McAllister, Anthony Noble, Joseph Mitchell, James Strode, Robert 
Cai:ter Willis, William Patterson, and Philip Pendleton, gentlemen, 
trustees, and shall be established a town by the name of Martinsburg. 

And be it further enacted, That the said trustees, or any four of 
them, shall proceed to sell such of the said lots as have not been 
already sold by the said Adam Stephen, at public auction, for the best 
price that can be had, the time and place of sale being previously ad- 
vertised in the Virginia Gazette, the purchasers respectively to hold 
the said lots subject to the condition of building on each a dwelling- 
house at least twenty feet long and sixteen feet wide, with a brick or 
stone chimney, to be finished within two years from the day of sale; 
and the said trustees, or any four of them, shall, and they are hereby 
empowered to convey the said lots to the purchasers thereof in fee 



244 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

simple, svibject to the condition aforesaid, and pay the money arising 
from such sale to the said Adam Stephen, his executors, adminis- 
trators, or assigns. 

A7id be it further enacted, That the said trustees, or the major part 
of them, shall have power from time to time to settle and determine 
all disputes concerning the bounds of said lots, and to settle such 
rules and orders for the regular and orderly building of houses thereon 
as to them shall seem best and most convenient. And in case of the 
death, removal out of the country, or other legal disability of any 
of the said trustees, it shall and may be lawful for the freeholders of 
the said town to elect and choose so many other persons in the room of 
those dead, removed or disabled, as shall make the number; which 
trustees so chosen shall be to all intents and purposes individually 
vested with the same power and authority as any one in this act 
particularly mentioned. 

And he it further enacted, That the purchasers of the lots in the said 
town, so soon as they shall have built upon and saved the same accord- 
ing to the condition of their respective deeds of conveyance, shall be 
entitled to and have and enjoy all the rights, privileges and immuni- 
ties, which the freeholders and inhabitants of other towns in this 
State, not incorporated by charter, have, hold and enjoy. 

And he it further enacted, That if the purchaser of any lot sold 
either by the said Adam Stephen, or the said trustees, shall fail to 
build thereon within the time before limited, the said trustees, or the 
major part of them, may thereupon enter into sach lot, and may either 
sell the same again, and apply the money toward repairing the streets, 
or in any other way for the benefit of the said town, or they may appro- 
priate the said lot, or part of it, to any public use for the benefit of the 
inhabitants of the said town. 

And he it further enacted, That the said trustees shall cause the 
survey and plot of the said town to be recorded in the court of the 
said county of Berkeley. 

And for preventing hogs going at large in the said town of Mar- 
tinsburg, he it enacted, That if any swine belonging to the inhabitants 
of the said town shall be found running or going at large within the 
limits thereof, it shall and may be lawful for any person whatever to 
kill or destroy every such swine so running at large. 

Provided always, That such person shall not convert any such 
swine to his or her use, but shall leave the same where it shall be so 
killed, and give immediate notice to the owner thereof, if known, if 
not, then such person shall immediately inform the next justice of the 
peace thereof, who may order the same to the use of any poor person 
he shall think fit. 

Provided cdso. That nothing herein contained shall be deemed or 
taken to hinder any person or persons from driving any swine to or 
through the said town or limits thereof in order to sell the same, or in 
their removal from one, plantation to another. 



BEEKELEY COUNTY. 245 

And be it furiher enacted, by fhe aufhority aforesaid, Tliat the 
trustees for the said town, and their successors for the time being, 
shall, and they are hereby authorized and empowered by that name, 
to sue and implead either in the court of said county, or the general 
court, any person or persons who shall commit a trespass on the streets 
of the said town or lands which may have been appropriated for the 
use of the inhabitants thereof. All sums of money to be recovered by 
virtue hereof shall be applied by the said trustees toward repairing the 
streets of the said town. 

The reason why Adam Stephen, who was and had been a soldier 
nearly all his life, chose such turbulent times for the establishment of 
his town instead of being at the front with his compatriots, will ap- 
pear further along. 

When quite a young man Adam Stephen came to the portion of 
Frederick County now known as Berkeley, but where he came from is 
not now known. It is altogether probable that he came in with the 
Scotch-Irish emigrants from the Cumberland Valley, as the name 
of Stephen and Stephens, two entirely different families, appear at a 
very early date. Those having the letter s as the terminal letter of 
their name all went above Winchester, whilst those without the s re- 
mained nearer the Potomac, or Cohongorooton, as it was originally 
called, and until Lord Fairfax made his immense steal. In early life 
Adam was frequently engaged in Indian fighting, and was with the 
provincials under Washington at Great Meadows, Fort Necessity and 
at Braddock's defeat. He continued in the Colonial service until 
1768, when he returned to his estate in Berkeley County, but not then 
called Berkeley. He had rendered great service in keeping back 
many Indian incursions and in punishing the savages. He was a 
major as early as 1754, and at the termination of hostilities against 
the French and Indians he was a major-general of the colony. 

In 1761 Gen. Stephen was a candidate for the House of Burgesses, 
the poll-list of which election, as has heretofore been stated, the 
writer has had in his possession. At this election, which occurred on 
May 18, 1761, the candidates were three, two only being elected. 
G. Washington was one, and received 505 votes; George Mercer, a 
colonial captain and one of the leading justices of Frederick County, 
was another, and received 394 votes; Maj. Adam Stephen was the 
other, and received 294 votes, being defeated. What the politics of 
the time was in Frederick County is unknown, but there were doubt- 
less differences of opinion. It was too early for the colonists to differ 



246 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

much in regard to England's treatment of her Western subjects. 
Whether or not this defeat of Stephen had anything to do afterward 
with his relations to Washington is impossible to divine now, but 
human nature is about the same in all ages, and politicians had their 
schemes and wires to work as Avell in the days of 1761 as in 1861. 

Turning his attention to civil affairs he inaugurated the move- 
ment for the creation of a new county out of the lower third of Fred- 
erick, which was accomplished as has been shown, he being one of 
the justices named in the first commission of the peace, and the 
first sheriff. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary war he 
was commissioned colonel of one of the Virginia regiments. In 
1776 he was transferred to the Continental line and received the 
appointment of brigadier-general from Congress, and in February, 
1777, he was promoted to the rank of major-general. He did 
service everywhere. He was at Trenton, Princeton and Brandy- 
wine, gaining praise from his commander-in-chief, but at Ger- 
mantown Washington was defeated, and Gen. Stephen, who was 
in command of a division, was charged with being intoxicated, 
whereupon he was court-martialed and dismissed from the army. 
It seems to have been a summary affair, and although the charge may 
have been entirely true, yet there is no evidence that his conduct con- 
tributed in the slightest degree to the defeat of the forces engaged. 
Not a single writer upon the subject has ever intimated that the in- 
toxication of Gen. Stephen was anything more than a breach of army 
regulations. The sentence at this late day is looked upon as having 
been extremely harsh, in consideration of the well known soldierly 
qualities of the unfortunate general, and the services he had rendered. 
Although there seems to be no evidence that anything besides " be- 
ing drunk " was the actuating cause of his discharge, yet it is possi- 
ble there may have been something else in connection with the affair. 
It is hardly possible to think of Washington as other than a just man. 
He certainly was a patriot who would dislike to lose the services of a 
good officer, and he had known Gen. Stephen for nearly twenty-five 
years. It is more just to the Father of his Country, more in accord- 
ance with the character of that great man, to suppose that he may 
have hidden something in the conduct of Gen. Stephen at the battle of 
Germantown and covered it up by a simple dismissal on the charge of 
drunkenness, than to suppose that Washington sought a pretext for the 
displacement of his suboi'dinate for the purpose of advancing a friend. 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 247 

That was not in consonance with the character of the immortal patriot 
of the Revolution. That Stephen himself thought the sentence just, 
or at least not extraordinarily harsh, is borne out by the fact that he 
neither made an appeal, nor spoke of it in any other way than as a 
matter of course. 

In 1788 Gen. Stephen and Gen. Darke, who also resided in Berk- 
•eley County, were elected to the convention called to take action upon 
the Federal constitution, and to his honor be it said, he voted for it, 
having warmly advocated its adoption before and during the conven- 
tion. He died in Martinsburg in 1791 and lies buried under an ap- 
parently unfinished monument on the Faulkner place in the southern 
portion of the town. 

The following poll-list, copied from an old paper published in 
Berkeley County many years ago, may, and in all probability does, refer 
to the election spoken of above, as Gen. Darke is one of the candidates 
running at the time, 1788-89. This election occurred, of course, be- 
fore Jefferson and Morgan were created out of Berkeley, and the vote, 
therefore, shows the whole number cast from the three counties, all of 
whom had to come to Martinsburg to exercise their right of suffrage. 
All persons, however, did not then vote, only "freeholders," which 
accounts for the small number of voters. One of the wards of Mar- 
tinsburg now casts as many votes as the entire three counties one 
hundred, years ago. The list is published as a matter of interest to 
the descendants of, doubtless, many whose names appear below. 
Many of those named were descended from the first settlers of this 
portion of the Valley, men who left their mark, and almost a majority 
of them will be recognized as having descendants in this county and 
in Jefferson and Morgan, as well, at the present time. A number of 
them became men of note, being exalted to the highest stations within 
the gift of their fellow citizens, and not a few of them to-day stand in 
the front ranks for intelligence and ability in the various walks of 
life. There was no heading of any kind to the poll-list, which num- 
bers 239 names: 

G. Swift, - Jno. Briscoe, J. Darnhaver, 

J. Wilson, D. Hunter, H. Yager, 

J. Morrow, W. Cherry, J. Jackson, 

J. Kearsley, Jas. Maxwell, J. Dominie, 

C. Morrow, Magnus Tate, Jno. Mathews, 

Thos. Robinson, Rich. Willis, Henry Lieveny, 

Dan'l Bedinger, J. Bridgeham, Jos. Mitchel, 

Wm. Little, H. Frank, M. Riser, 



248 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



Rich'd Morgan, 
Adam Bishop, 
Thos. Thornburg, 
John Derry, 
P. Wilshimer, 
G. Shome, 
Abr. Morgan, 
M. Haskinson, 
Thos. Swearingen, 
Wm. Morgan, 
Jacob Isler, 
Jno. Daniels, 
M. Hout, 
Jno. Barns, 
Robt. Lowry, 
S. Hyatt, 
M. En tier, 
N. Mclntyre, 
H. Sheets, 
J. Sharkle, 
Dan. Vanmetre, 
Robt. Saodgrass, 
Thos. Pliilips, 
Geo. Tabler, 
S. Harlen, 
Wm. Maxwell, 
J. Hendricks, 
J. 'Bull, 
Cato Moore, 
Jno. McLane, 
K. Stubbs, 
Jno. Tilden, 
H. Bedinger, 
Wm. Henshaw, ,. 
"Ed. Beeson, 
J. Graham, 
Jos. McCoy, 
Sam'l Harrison, 
Aaron Hedges, 
Abra. Shepperd, 
Ed. Tabb, 
M. McKown, 
Jas. Strode, 
David Gray. 
P. Martin, 
Jos. Foreman, 
D. Vulgamott, 
H. Bovvers, 
Bazil Lucas, 
John Gray, 
David Lewis, 
Jno. Eaton, 



E. Gaither, 
Jas. McCallister, 

• P. Daugherty, 

Jas. Cowan, 

W. Merrit, 

Jno. Smith, 

Wm. Douglas, 

Jno. Brand, 

J. Angel, 

M. Fouke, 

J. Chapline, 

George Ropp, 

M. Eckhart, 

N. Pucktol, 

Wm. Hall, 

P. Fisher, 

Robt. Wilson, 
^N. Strayer,") 
^ N. Young, 

J. Vanmetre, 

J. Fink, 

W. Spalding, 

H. Fisher, 

Jno. Hanes, 

H. Nase, 

C. Cookers, 

Jno. Miller, 

J. Staley, 

Jno. Line, 

F. Polk, 
Jno. Fryatt, 
Thos. Crow, 
T. Laferty, 
Thos. Johnson, 
Jacob Miller, 
H. Boyle, 
Jacob Coons, 
Jacob Pulse, 

P. Burr, 
C. Myers, 
A. Rodgers, 
J. Painter, 

G. Custard, 
P. Sinn, 

J. Renock, 
G. Smallwood, 
M. Houseman, 
Jos. Hedges, 
Jos. Grantham, 
H. Black, 
Dan'l Cameron, 
Peter Light, 



Geo. Cunningham, 
Jno. Baker, 
Wm. Lucas, 
James Glenn, 
R. Cockburn, 
Raleigh Morgan, 
Jos. Swearingen, 
J. Banks, 
Math. Porterfleld, 
David Horn, 
Isaac Evans, 
W. McConnel, 
Jno. Turner, 
David Bell, 
Thos. Hart, 
A. Nichols, 
W. Kerr, 
Geo. Horn, 
iJas. Buckles, 
T. Osborn, 
Wm. Blue, 
M. Bryarley, 
J. Tramway, 

D. Davis, 
Jno. Fishel, 
Chris. Chase, 
L. Lee, 

C. Claycomb, 
L. Hansil, 
Sam'l Wilson, 
H. Ross, 
Jno. Clawson, 
P. Coons, 
C. Hollinger, 
Jas. Bird, 
G. S. Coffinberry, 
Ed. Lucas, 
Jonas Hedge, 
A. Goosman, 
Jas. Kerr, 
Jno. Moore, 
P. Poisal, 
Z. Morgan, 
Robt. Lucas, 
A. Burnett, 
Jeptha Martin, 

E. Mercer, 
Jno. Hess, 
R. Dunn, 
Geo. Mykle, 
G. Ox, 

\'an Swearingen, 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 249 

D. Collette, J- Brown, T. Jewell, 

A. Mallette, G. Reynolds, R- Cray ton, 

G. Tilly, J- Hart. H. Vance, 

Jas. Robinson, J. Shierly, J. Aikman. 

J. Meloin, Thoa. White, Geo. Tabb. 

W. Gorrell, W. Hannah, 

Berkeley County, Set. 

I do hereby certify that Henry Bedinger, made oath on the Holy 
Evangely of Almighty God, that the above is a true statement of the 
poll and impartially taken. 

Given under my hand this 7th day of January, 1789. 

John Kearsley, J. P. 

The J. Kearsley, justice of the peace, before whom Henry Bedinger, 
one of the judges of the election, made affidavit to the correctness of 
the poll, was afterward postmaster of Martinsburg, and in 1802 ran 
for Congress in the district that included Berkeley County. In this 
connection the evidence is furnished to show that the ways of the 
politician were as tortuous nearly one hundred years ago as at the 
present highly improved epoch, for Mr. Kearsley published the 
following card in a Martinsburg paper, the only one in the district, 
by the way, of June 8, 1802: 
To the Freeholders of Berkeley, Jejferson and Hampshire Couniies. 

Gentlemen: — A report has been put in circulation that I have 
declined from the offer I made of my services on the 22d of March 
last to represent this district in the Congress of the United States. 
As I am now made acquainted with the design, it may be necessary 
for me to observe, that this report has no foundation in fact ; nor do I 
propose to decline (unless the delicate state of my health should impel 
the measure) until the will of a majority of the people in the district 
is known by the event of an election. 

JOHN KEARSLEY. 

Shepherdstown, May 8, 1802. 

After the Revolutionary war. when victory and peace had blessed 
the happy citizens of the united colonies, prosperity came as naturally 
as the plant after sunshine and shower. Many of the heroes of the 
struggle made their way back to their homes and began business, 
whilst many were left upon the battle-field to enrich By their noble 
deaths the generations to come. Fortunately the ravages of war had 
not reached the valley, as it did nearly one hundred years later; and 
there was not from this cause any rebuilding of destroyed homes. 
Building took a start in Martinsburg and a number of stores and 



250 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

taverns, the facts in regard to which have been gleaned from a file of 
Winchester newspapers printed in 1786-88. In November, 1787, 
Joseph Butler, from the Warm Springs (Berkeley Springs), begged 
"leave to inform his friends and the public generally" that he had 
"taken the noted tavern called the General Washingion, in Martins- 
burg, lately occupied by Mr. Rogers, where gentlemen travelers may 
be sure of meeting every accommodation," He also had on hand the 
"greatest assortment of all foreign and home-made liquors; his 
French, Italian and Spanish wines, and his Jamaica and New Eng- 
land rums" were the best, and all "gentlemen with fine tastes should 
patronize his stock," as Mr. Butler felt sure that he could please the 
most fastidious tastes, N. B. — He had good stabling, etc. 

Those old Avorthies back there, one hundred years ago, knew good 
liquor when they tasted it, and they would have had little patience 
with the decoctions palmed oflf to-day as " imported." When they got 
drunk they did it on respectable stuff, and not tangle-foot, grape-vine, 
or forty-rod. Everybody drank at that primitive day, clergymen as 
well as common folk, and the flagrant offense of poor old Gen, Stephen 
would not have been much out of place in a parlor. It was not for 
getting drunk that he was dismissed from the army, but in consequence 
of the circumstances and time. The great and good G. W., as has 
been shown, electioneered with whisky. 

There was considerble activity in real estate for many years suc- 
ceeding the war, and large bodies of land were thrown on the market. 
Among those who advertised to sell was Robert Rutherford, whose 
notice of sale appears in an Alexandria paper of July 6, 1786. He 
and Charles Yates offered for sale 1,000 acres in Berkeley County. 
Yates is the gentleman from whom the famous " Yates' Garden," in 
Alexandria, took its name, and Robert Rutherford was the son of 
Thomas Rutherford, the first sheriff, appointed in 1743, who ever held 
office west of the Blue Ridge, being commissioned by the governor at 
the date named as high sheriff for Frederick County. Rutherford was 
elected to Congress several times. In 1797 he ran against Gen. Daniel 
Morgan and defeated him, but in 1799 Morgan defeated Rutherford. 
In connection with these two competitors there are two anecdotes 
worth preserving: Gen, Morgan went to a prominent gentleman whom 
he knew to be a warm friend of his, and asked him to not only vote 
for him, but to use his influence for him and against Mr. Rutherford. 
The gentleman took the old war-scarred hero by the hand, and looking 



BEKKELEY COUNTY. 251 

into those eyes that never quailed before an enemy, said with much 
feeling: " General Morgan, you know me, and know that I never have 
and never will, deceive any man. Should a war break out and were I 
to have the selection of a commander-in-chief, there is no man in this 
wide world to whom I would give the place in preference to yourself; 
but, sir, when I am to select a member of Congress, then I must vote 
for Mr. Rutherford." 

Rutherford was a plain, unassuming man, who dressed in the 
simplest garb, and very few would suspect the intelligence and ability 
that lurked beneath his homely clothing, whilst his integrity and kind- 
ness of heart were known to all. During one of the sessions of Con- 
gress, he was invited to dine with a prominent gentleman of Philadel- 
phia, and at the appointed time repaired to the house of his friend and 
inquired whether he was in, not mentioning his own name, however. 
The lady of the house did not invite him in, thinking he was some 
poor wanderer in search of alms from her husband, so the old gentle- 
man took a seat on the door steps. In a little while the lady came to 
him and told him to come into the kitchen, and that if he would cut a 
little wood and bring some water she would give him his dinner. Mr. 
Rutherford, who had a keen sense of the ridiculous, complied with the 
lady's request, after which she told him to take a seat on a box near 
the fire. In the meantime the gentleman of the house arrived and, 
his wife meeting him in the parlor, they conferred together as to why 
their guest had not arrived. The wife said that no one had called 
with the exception of a poor old fellow who was out in the kitchen 
waiting for his dinner. The host and hostess sauntering in the direc- 
tion of where the sly old member of Congress was comfortably seated,, 
soon made the discovery, much to their chagrin, but to the intense 
amusement of Rutherford. 

The Lower Shenandoah Valley is noted for the number of men Avho 
became prominent in the struggle of the colonies for independence. 
Two other generals, in addition to Gens. Stephen and Lee, resided in 
Berkeley County, besides a number of other officers, colonels, majors,, 
captains and lieutenants, whom history has placed upon its pages and 
whose names will go down the ages with honor to the Valley of Vir- 
ginia. 

Gen. William Darke, from whom the village of Darkesville took 
its name, and in whose honor Darke County, Ohio, was christened, 
was born in Pennsylvania about 1736, and with his parents came to- 



252 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

VirgiDia at the age of six years. They settled uot far from Shep- 
herdstown, at that time called New Mecklenburg, and by which title 
it was known for over half a century. It is asserted that young Darke 
was with Braddock, being then only nineteen years of age, and it is 
probable that he was — in fact, it could not have been otherwise — for 
everybody else, who lived west of the Blue Ridge whose name has 
come down to the present day, and who was not actually an infant at 
that time, was " with Braddock." Being "with Braddock" is very 
much like " Braddock's road." There is not a square mile of land 
from Mason and Dixon's line southward for a hundred miles that has 
not a portion of "Braddock's road" upon it. If all the men were with 
Braddock that is now claimed for them, they ought to have swept the 
entire French and Indian forces clear across the Mississippi. At the 
breaking out of the Revolution Darke entered the service as a captain 
and was taken prisoner at Germantown. Upon his release he returned 
to his home in Berkeley, in 1780, but in the following spring he 
assisted in recruiting a regiment in Berkeley and Frederick, and was 
given the command of the regiment. After the cessation of hostilities 
he returned to his fields in Berkeley, and in 1788 was elected as a 
representative from Berkeley to the convention held for the purpose 
of ratifying the Federal Constitution. He afterward represented his 
county in the General Assembly of the Commonwealth. At the break- 
ing out of the Indian war in 1791 Col, Darke offered his services and 
was placed in command of the Second Virginia Regiment. He was 
with .Gen. Arthur St. Clair in his memorable campaign. He did 
splendid service in that series of disastrous events, ending in much 
loss and sujffering to the brave soldiers, the victims of a stupendous 
" folly." Col. Darke was afterward promoted to the rank of brigadier- 
general. He ran for Congress but was defeated, in conjunction with 
the gallant Gen. James Wood, by that most brilliant lawyer and gen- 
tleman, Hon. Alexander White. Darke died November 20, 1801. 

Another Revolutionary worthy, who was a citizen of Berkeley 
County, was Gen. Horatio Gates. He also was "with Braddock," for it 
is claimed that he was an Englishman, an officer in one of the two reg- 
iments of regulars sent over by His Majesty George the King, and was, 
consequently, with the unfortunate general who not only was defeated, 
but lost his life, in the wilds of Pennsylvania in 1755. Gates was 
seriously wounded in the same engagement and resigned his commis- 
sion. Being a man of wealth he purchased an estate in Berkeley 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 253 

County and became an American. His name occurs frequently in the 
old records of the county, and in 1773 was appointed a justice of the 
peace. In 1775 he espoused the cause of the patriots, and was hon- 
ored by the American Congress by being appointed adjutant-general 
with the rank of brigadier-general. He was, undoubtedly, a skillful 
and gallant soldier, and as long as he kept his inordinate ambition 
under subjection be seemed to be successful. At Saratoga his oper- 
ations resulted in one of the most decisive victories of the M'ar, the 
capture of Burgoyne and his army. But, like Gen. Charles Lee, he 
desired to be at the head of the army, and did not hesitate to plot 
against the commander-in-chief to accomplish his ends. This brought 
him into trouble and he was relieved of command, being superseded 
by Gen. Greene. Gates was re-instated to his rank in 1782, after 
hostilities had ceased. Peace being declared he retired to his planta- 
tion, where he continued to reside till 1790, when he removed to New 
York City, and was elected in 1800 to a seat in the Legislature of 
New York. Several years before his death he manumitted all his 
slaves and made provision for their maintenance. He died April 
10, 1806. 

One of the very first settlers of the lower valley was Morgan 
Morgan, or as he signed his name, to be seen in hundreds of instances 
in the Frederick County records running from 1743 onward for many 
years, "Morgan ap" — the cqj invariably having a line running through 
it, and being placed just above the an in the name — and meaning 
"Morgan son of Morgan." He was a Welshman, and a man of consid- 
erable wealth when he came here, which he very materially increased 
by large grants of land from Gov. Gooch. Bishop Meade and Hawks, 
the historian, give Morgan great credit for extreme piety, evidenced, 
as they surmise, by his building, in conjunction with Dr. John Briscoe 
and a Mr. Hite, a log chapel, claimed to be the first church edifice in 
the valley. The historian named sets the building of this chapel at 
1726, but as the earliest claims set up for Morgan's arrival here is 
1732, which is probably correct, it is difficult to reconcile the two 
facts. Besides, the Presbyterians had a little church not far from 
Martinsburg; there was a Calvinist Church above Winchester; a 
Lutheran, or Reformed, house of worship at the settlement of the 
German mechanics at Mecklenburg; all of which have claims to being 
the "first church." Morgan Morgan, however, was undoubtedly one 
of the leading spirits, xf not the most prominent man in all this lower 



254 HISTORY OF THE LOWEE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

valley, for he is the first person named in the first commission of 
justices of the peace of Frederick, and to whom the dedimus for 
administering the oaths to his brother justices was addressed. He 
died in the year 1766, at .the age of seventy-eight years, after an 
extremely useful and adventurous life. His son, Morgan Morgan, Jr.,^ 
was one of the justices named in the commission issued by Lord 
Dunmore in 1773. He was educated as a clergyman in the Episcopal 
Church, and preached in the chapel erected by his father for many 
years, but when the Eevolution broke out he entered the Continental 
army and served gallantly throughout the war. 

In addition to those named Berkeley County was the birthplace or 
home of many distinguished men in various walks of life. Alexander 
Wilson, the famous naturalist, ornithology being his special study^ 
was born in Scotland, and was a weaver by trade. He came to the 
United States in 1794, and for a time lived in this county, conducting 
his trade, but not meeting with much success removed to Philadelphia, 
where he died in 1813. He is said to have commenced the first vol- 
ume of his celebrated treatise on his favorite subject whilst living in 
this section. Kaleigh Colston, who figured as one of the purchasers of 
the Fairfax estate, owned a fine plantation in Berkeley County near 
the Potomac. Colston, in conjunction with his brother-in-law, Chief 
Justice Marshall and Gen. Henry Lee purchased the manor of Leeds, 
comprising 150,000 acres of land lying in Culpeper, Fauquier and 
Frederick Counties; the South Branch manor, Patterson's Creek 
manor and other large tracts of land from the legatees in England, but 
came near losing their valuable purchase, as Fairfax was an alien when 
he died, and the property just escaped confiscation by the stipulations 
of the treaty with England. For many years persons paid to the heirs 
of these purchasers- "quit-rents," an outrageous exaction, as the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Virginia in 1785 passed a law specially and forever 
abolishing the collection of quit-rents on this property. Mr. Colston 
was a man who took great interest in all religious movements, and his 
name appears in the Martinsburg Gazette in 1814 in connection with 
a bible society being organized at that time. He died in 1823. 

Four ministers of the Gospel, who became exceedingly prominent 
not only in Virginia but throughout the country, were either born in 
Berkeley County or had their residence here for many years. 

Rev. Moses Hoge, D. D., a Presbyterian divine of much eminence, 
who was made president of Hampton Sidney College in 1807, resided 




GEN. JOHN SMITH, OF HACKWOOD. 

FROM A COPPER-PLATE PRINT. 



BEllKELEY COUNTY. 257 

in this county for about thirteen years. He was a son of George 
Hoge, one of the first justices of Frederick County, and was born not 
far from the little village of Kernstown in Frederick County, a locality 
made famous by Stonewall Jackson in his battle with Gen. Shields, 
and afterward noted as the point where the gallant Col. Mulligan of 
Illinois was killed. The Hoge family contributed the funds to build 
the church known as the " Opequon Church," three miles from Win- 
chester, in the graveyard attached to which is a tombstone bearing 
date 1742. 

Eev. William Hill, D. D., born in 17()9, in Virginia, after his admis- 
sion to the ministry, settled in Berkeley County, but after several years 
residence here took charge in 1800 of the Presbyterian Church in 
Winchester, where he continued to reside the balance of his life, and 
where he died in 1852. Dr. Hill was one of the most prominent 
ministers of his denomination in his day, and was one of the leaders in 
the " new school " movement and other questions that came up at 
different times in his church. He was a great personal friend of Gen. 
Daniel Morgan, who became a member of Dr. Hill's church shortly 
before the death of the old Revolutionary hero. Many of the pub- 
lished reminiscences of Gen. Morgan are due to conversations held with 
the General by Dr. Hill, and the one wherein Morgan acknowledged 
that he hdd fear — not of man, but of God — is authentic. 

Rev. Bernard C. Wolfe, was born in Martinsburg, in 1795, and 
learned the trade of a saddle and harness-maker with John Helferstay, 
who conducted that l)usiness in the thriving little village named from 
1810 for many years afterward, as his advertisement shows in the old 
Gazette. Ilev. Wolfo was a son of Georije Wolfe, a most resoectable 
gentleman, who was appointed a magistrate in 1810, at the same time 
that Joel Ward, who was for many years a member of the house of 
delegates of the commonwealth, was appointed. Michael^ Rooney, who 
had the reputation of having been a " Sea Rover," before settling in 
Berkeley, also was appointed, and a year or two afterward Maj. James 
Faulkner sat with Mr. Wolfe. The young saddler, however, left his 
shop and studied for the ministry under the auspices of the German 
Reformed Church. After his admission to the ministry he was sta- 
tioned in Easton, Penn., and from there he was called to Baltimore, 
from which city he was summoned as a professor in Mercersburg Col- 
lege, but ill health necessitated a resignation. He then settled in 
Lancaster, Penn., where he died in 1870. 

16 



258 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Rev. A. H. H. Boyd, D. D., was born in 1814, in Martinsburg, and 
was the son of Gen. Elislia Boyd. His first inclinations were to the 
profession of medicine, but he gave that up and entered heartily into 
a preparation for the ministry. He began his ministry in 1835 at 
Winchester, but was called to the charges of Middleburg and Leesburg, 
Loudoun County, Va., in 1838, from whence he visited many churches 
in search of a location to his liking, but preferring Winchester to any 
other place he settled there, where he remained for twenty-three years, 
till his death, in 1865. He was a pronounced Southern man during the 
war, and was arrested and held as a hostage for some time, the expos- 
ure from which is said to have caused his death. 

Among other prominent residents of Berkeley may be mentioned 
Dr. Kichard McSherry, a son of Richard McSherry, who brought young 
James Faulkner from Ireland when the lad was but ten years old, he 
being left an orphan in County Armagh. Richard McSherry was a 
man of great business qualifications, whilst the son. Dr. McSherry, was 
a physician and surgeon who had few superiors, if any, at the time he 
practiced here. He was born in 1792, and graduated at the University 
of Pennsylvania in 1816. 

The name of Bedinger is one of the oldest in the valley and it oc- 
curs frequently in the old Frederick County records. Daniel Bedinger 
who was a young man when the Revolution broke out, joined the com- 
pany that camped at Morgan's Spring, in the fall of 1775, or at least 
one of the companies, for there were two, one being under the com- 
mand of Capt. Daniel Morgan, and the other of Capt. Hugh Stephen- 
son. These companies were not there (at the spring) at the same time 
however. At any rate young Bedinger went to the front with one of 
these great captains and was taken prisoner at Brandywine, in 1777. 
After his release he promptly rejoined his command and was made an 
ensign. At the close of hostilities he held the position for many years 
of agent at Gosport Navy Yard, and died in 1818. Abraham Shepherd, 
son of Thomas Shepherd, the founder of Shepherdstown, which was 
established on the site of Mecklenburg, was another Revolutionary 
soldier. He, also, was a member of Capt. Hugh Stephenson's com- 
pany and a gallant soldier. He was retired from the service with the 
rank of captain, and died in 1822. 

Magnus Tate, born in 1755-60, was a man whose after life made 
up in a great measure for his youthful follies. He appears in the 
Frederick County records quite early as a fighter, and one of the first 



BEKKELEY COUNTY. 259 

references to him is in consequence of a fight he had with some other 
young tough. One of the items in the proceedings as recorded in the 
justices' order book recites that Magnus Tate appeared before the 
magistrates and lodged complaint against a party for biting off his 
ear. Two witnesses testify to the fact, the " biter " is held for trial, 
and the ear retained as proof of the charge, whereupon the facetious 
old clerk enters on the margin of the record, his "reference side note," 
these words, "Magnus Tate's ear placed on record," and it is so 
indexed. He afterward became sheriff of Berkeley County, one of its 
most respected magistrates, and was elected to Congress in 1815. 
Like Gen. Daniel Morgan, who was a hard-hitter in his youthful days — 
a regular tough — Magnus Tate proved that a man need not necessarily 
continue to sow his wild oats till he died. He lived, highly respected, 
although having but one ear and a portion of another, till 1823. 

Col. William Crawford, who was so barbarously tortured and mur- 
dered by Indians in 1782 on the Muskingum in that portion of Vir- 
ginia now comprised in the State of Ohio, was born in Berkeley 
County. Lewis Wetzell, as well as Adam Poe, the great Indian 
fighters, are both thought to have been born in this section of the 
valley. Both of these names, Wetzell and Poe, are among the early 
names of citizens upon the early records in Frederick. Hon. Felix 
Grundy first saw the light on Back Creek in this county. This gen- 
tleman, one of the most eminent of American statesmen, was elected as 
a member of Congress from Tennessee, having previously been judge 
of the supreme court of Kentucky. He was United States senator 
from Tennessee and attorney-general of the United States under Van 
Buren. In 1840 he was again elected United States senator, but died 
in December, 1840. John R. Cooke, the father of John Esten Cooke, 
the truest writer of the Sunny South since the Civil war, lived here 
before he moved to Winchester. Nathaniel Willis, the father of the 
eminent poet and journalist, N. P. Willis, also lived in Martinsburg 
where he commenced the publication of a newspaper early in the 
century. Mr. Willis had been connected with one of the newspapers 
established in Winchester in 1787, and got into quite an animated 
discussion with another editor and some outside party, which looked 
serious for awhile, but it was, probably, settled " amicably." Gore 
is very rarely needed in such cases. 

Gen. Thomas S. Jessup was born in Berkeley County in 1788 
and was commissioned second lieutenant when twenty years of age. 



200 HlSTOllY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

He rapidly rose through the grades of first lieutenant and captain, and 
successively through the rank of major and colonel till in 182S, for 
ten years' meritorious service, he was made a full major-general. 
Gen. Jessup was one of the most brilliant officers his country has 
ever honored, and he lived to a good old age, dying just on the eve of 
the great struggle that might have embittered his life for his few 
remaining years, had he survived to see his countrymen arrayed in 
battle one against tJie other. He died in June, I8(j0. Maj. Henry 
Bedinger was another of that name who fought on the side of freedom 
in the Hevolution. He Avas born in October, 175^3, in York, Penn. In 
1798 he was made clerk of the county court, but a contest resulted 
between himself and Col. David Hunter, which was finally settled by 
the courts in favor of Col. Hunter. Maj. 13edinger's name appears 
in the list of voters, printed in this chapter, at an election in 1789. 
After the contest he retired to his country seat and for many years 
thereafter his tall form and white beard were frequently seen on the 
streets of Martinsburg. TJie old gentleman, although nearly ninety 
years old at his death, preserved his faculties in a remarkable degree. 
He died in the month of May, 1843. 

Hon. Charles James Faulkner was the son of Maj. James Faulkner, 
who was broaght from Ireland about 1780, when he (James) was ten 
years of age. Maj. Faulkner was a man of stirring business qualities 
and with a decided predisposition to a military life. He was a mer- 
chant in Martinsburg in 1810, and the records show that he was 
a[)pointed a magistrate in 1813, continuing in that position till his 
death in 1817, as will be seen in a following chapter on the early or- 
ganization and government of the town by the trustees from 1813 on- 
ward. The son, Charles James, when his father died must have been 
about thirteen years of age, as he was admitted to practice in the 
superior court of chancery of Frederick County in 1825, and was possi- 
bly twenty-one years of age at the time. He imbibed from his active 
father qualities that made his life a success, made him a leader in his 
party, and when that party, the Federalist- Whig organization, lost its 
usefulness, Mr. Faulkner was found on the side of the Democracy, 
where he remained till his death. He was elected to the General As- 
sembly of Virginia in 1832, and about this time was appointed one of 
three commissioners on the part of Virginia to settle, in conjunction 
with commissioners of Maryland, the disputed boundary line between 
the tw^o States. He made his report in November, 1832, and it had 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 261 

the effect of substantially settling that matter. In 1841 Mr. Faulk- 
ner was elected to the State Senate of Virginia, but resigned in a 
year's time. In 1848 he again was elected to the General Assembly. 
He was a member of what is known as the Reform Convention of 
1850. He was elected to Congress in 1851, and from about Avhich 
time, that is, during 1852, when the candidates for president were 
Scott and Pierce, he changed his political affiliations, coining out 
squarely for Pierce and the Democracy. One of Mr. Faulkner's 
most noteworthy acts was his canvass of Virginia in conjunction with 
Henry A. Wise, against Know-Nothiiigism, when the death knell of 
that party of intollerance was sounded. After the elevation of James 
Buchanan to the Presidency, Mr. Faulkner was offered the mission to 
France, but as a distinguished Virginian, Mr. Mason, was holding that 
position he declined. In 1851), however, Mr. Mason dying, Mr. Faulk- 
ner was off'ered the place once more, which he accepted. Being 
relieved in 18G1 by the ap[)ointment of W. L. Dayton as minister to 
France,' Mr. Faulkner returned to the United States and was arrested, 
but released after a confinement of some months. He was then invited 
by Stonewall Jackson to be chief of his staif, which he accepted 
promptly, and was with that distinguished general till his sad death. 
After the war he took an active part in the interest of the new State of 
West Virginia and was a member of the Constitutional convention of 
1872. Mr. Faulkner married a daughter of Gen. Elisha Bo^'d, and 
had several children, two of whom, E. Boyd and Charles James, Jr., are 
prominent members of the Martinsburg bar-, the latter being United 
States senator from West Virginia. The distinguished orentleman 
died November 1, 1884, and was followed to his last resting place by 
the largest funeral procession ever witnessed here. 



262 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

PKIMITIVE TOWN AND COUNTY. 

The Newspaper ASA"MiurvOR" — Its Great Value to History — Some 
Interesting Extracts from Journals of 1787, 1802, 1812-14 and 1825 
to 1835— a Wily Prisoner— Timely Advertisements— Shopping in 
1811— Fine Stores— P. Nadenbousch & Co., Daniel Burkhardt, James 
Faulkneh, Thomas Smith & Co., Merchants — Patent Medicines — 
A Quaker Goldsmith and Jeweler— Lots of Shoemakers— Some 
Noted Taverns— War of 1812-14— Depression in Values— The Mar- 
TiNSBURG Academy— James Faulkner, Merchant, Magisti;ate and 
Artillerist— GiBBs' Factory— Guseman Nail Foundry— Woolen 
AND Flour Mills— Horse Racing— Theatricals— Fourth of July 
Celebration— A White Negro— Kroesen's Tavern — Library Society 
— Terrible Storm — Another Celebration and Three Fine Toasts- 
Prices Current — Disastrous Fires — Canal to Martinsburg — A 
Temperance Society — A Cyclone — Coal Discovered — Falling 
"Stars"— First Schedule of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. 

THERE is no source whence information in regard to current 
events, whicli is genuine history, can better be derived than from 
the newspaper. The newspaper is the "mirror of its time" — it 
records the happenings just as they are; it reflects, as a general rule, 
the sentiments of the community wherein it is published. It is 
molded by tlie opinions, the desires, and the passions of its patrons 
and readers, and does not shape, as is popularly supposed, the public 
mind, being itself the shaped, and not the sliaper. The reverse of 
this state of affairs exists only in extremely rare cases. It is only 
possible under exceptional and peculiar circumstances, where more 
than ordinary strength of character, combined with the highest stand- 
ing and acknowledged ability, is associated with the capacity of 
wielding a fluent and trenchant pen. These qualities, for reasons that 
are apparent, seldom concentrate in oue who is disposed to venture 
upon the treacherous and uncertain sea of journalism. This may be 
considered rank heresy, but it is the truth, as all newspaper men 
know. Yet there is no class of workers who are so poorly paid, who 
receive less thanks, or who are so worried and imposed upon, as the 
country editor, especially. He performs his labors honestly, delves 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 263 

early and late, and dishes up his weekly modicum, happen what may. 
And these are just the reasons why an old newspaper is so valuable. 
In its age-browned columns one finds the names and businesses of many 
persons long since forgotten. Transactions are recorded in the usual 
every day style that have changed the destinies of nations. Great 
actors on the world's stage are strutting their brief hour, and now 
where are they? 

The following incident, published in the Winchester Centinel of 
September 20, 1788, in relation to a transaction that occurred in Mar- 
tinsburg 102 years ago, is interesting as showing either the credulity 
of our early justices or the shrewdness of the prisoner, or both : 

John Groves found a young man named James Johnson with his 
great coat on. He was arraigned before Esquire Godwin SwiftT The 
young man had a mare and saddle. He said he would go to Loudoun, 
where he lived, and get proof of his innocence. He left his horse and 
saddle but did not return, and John Randall, constable, advertises for 
the owner of the horse. 

Of course the coat belonged to Groves and not to Johnson, as the 
involute language would imply. The justice before whom the prisoner 
was examined was one of a commission appointed by Lord Dunmore 
in 1772 and re-appointed by Gov. Patrick Henry in 1776. 

From a newspaper published in Martinsburg in 1802, a copy of 
which is before the writer, a number of extracts will be made. This 
paper is The Berkeley and Jeffei'son InielUgencer and Northern- 
Neck Advertiser, No. 12, of Vol. 4, dated June 18, 1802, and is pub- 
lished by John Alburtis, at the price of " two dollars a year — one- 
half payable at the time of subscribing." Advertisements were in- 
serted for " three-fourths of a dollar per square for three weeks to 
subscribers; to non-subscribers the common price of one dollar," — a 
discrimination the writer has never elsewhere met with. From the 
date and number of this issue the paper must have been started in 
March, 1798. 

In the Advertiser Christian Hartman advertises that he lost a new 
red morocco pocket-book containing $30, and offers a reward of $8 to 
the finder. Jeremiah Thompson, in a card, states that some time be- 
fore he had received $14 from Henry Baugh, of Hampshire, but that 
nine of the dollars turned out to be counterfeit, and that upon return- 
ing them to Baugh and getting good money for them the latter 
said that he was going to pass them off on somebody. Thompson 



264 HISTORY OF THE LOWEK SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

warns the public to look out for them. Joel Ward, one of the justices, 
afterward a prominent member of the General Assembly of Virginia, 
explains in a card the cause of a levy of $1 being laid on all tithables, 
the reason being the cutting off of more than half the population by 
the creation of Jefferson County just previously, whilst the expenses 
were the same. Adam Sheetz offers for sale a two-story log house and 
two lots situated on Martin Street in Martinsburg. Walter B. Selby 
advertises " elegant goods " of all kinds in Shepherdstown, and John 
Kennedy does the same thing in regard to his stock in Charles-Town. 
Joseph Oldfield states in a card that his wife Mary, having left his 
bed and board, that the public are warned not to harbor her, as he 
will not pay any of her debts. Another man named Benjamin Ellis 
advertises that he will pay $5 to anyone returning his lost pocket- 
book, and G. W. Humphreys, at Keeptryste Furnace, wants an owner 
for a horse that strayed to his premises. 

As the ladies and others required places in which to "shop." as 
well in those early times as at present, tliere were some fine stores in 
Martinsburg: Mr. William Riddle, who was also a magistrate, states 
that he has "just received a handsome assortment of well chosen 
spring goods, groceries, etc.;" and Mr, Rees Branson, a Quaker gold 
and silver-smith, "respectfully informs the public that he has employed 
an assistant and is now ready to furnish gold finger and car rings, 
watch chains, seals and keys, scissars, broaches, sieve-buttons, etc.;" 
also that he makes clocks and watches. 

Thomas Smith & Co. advertise as having "just received from 
Philadelphia a fresh supply of merchandise, consisting of Irish linens, 
dowlas, Russia sheeting, German rolls, blue, "striped, clouded and 
plane India nankeens, Imperial hyson, skin hyson and Boliea teas, 
coffee, sugar, crowley and blistered steel, etc." But the big store of 
that date in Martinsburg was, possibly, that of P. Nadenbousch & Co., 
who offered a large assortment of "})rime goods" similar to those just 
named, but with the addition of French brandy, wine and spirits, 
molasses, fish oil, and Spanish Indigo;" also, "harness, soal and upper 
leather, iron, salt, etc." 

James S. Lane & Co., Shepherd's Town, who not only then, but 
for many years thereafter, kept a very extensive mercantile establish- 
ment, advertise a large stock of goods of all kinds; and Jeremiah 
Evans, in Jamesburg, Berkeley County, four miles from Garrard's 
Town, informs the public that he will sell for cash a fine stock of 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 265 

goods. Col. Samuel Washington has for sale in Charles Town a 
number of lots on Washington Street; and George Wibly, Martins- 
burg, will sell a lot on the main street, whereon is a "log dwelling 
house, well paled in as a clover patch." Nowkirk & Porterfield have 
opened a stock of goods at Newkirk's Mill ; Philip Bedinger offers for 
sale a fine plantation at Watkiu's Ferry; John McCleary, first sergeant, 
notifies the members of Capt. Magnus Tate's troop of cavalry to meet 
punctually on the lOtli at Martinsburg, and the editor of the paper, 
John Alburtis, in a two-column advertisement enlarges upon the 
virtues of a remedy for worms, a cure for the whooping-cough, an 
extract of mustard, and an elixir for sore throats, all of which remedies 
the editor has for sale at his office. And in the matter of taverns 
there were a number in operation. John Robinson informs the public 
that he has just opened one in the house lately occupied by Ignatius 
OTerrall, next door to William Mackey, Jr., at the sign of the "Indian 
Chief." The proprietor says: "I would just beg leave to remark 
that this house is not exceeded by any in Martinsburg, and is much 
superior to many others." John Hunter advertises the "Genera;l 
Washington Tavern," and George Smith, Shepherd's Town, keeps a 
house of entertainment at the "Sign of the Swan." 

John Dixon offers $10 reward for the apprehension of his negro, 
Charles, and although advertisements of that character were quite 
numerous before the late war, and familiar to all the older residents 
of this section, yet the language of this one is such as to merit a 
reproduction here in part. Mr. D. says: "This villian ran away from 
the subscriber without cause, and has been seen several times near 
Shepherdstown since his elopement. The subscriber is unable to 
describe his dress, but he is an artful scoundrel and will no doubt 
disguise himself." And that this "fellow is about thirty-tAvo years of 
age, rather a small man than otherwise, can read and write, and is an 
artful, talkative rascal." • One can scarcely realize now that all this 
was looked upon once as only a passing matter — something that was 
neither wrong nor right — only an event. Truly the sun of progress, 
in the language of Brother Jasper, "do move." 

In the matter of local news there is not a single item in this old 
sheet of 1802, the idea of chronicling the occurrence of home matters 
not as yet having dawned upon the editors of newspapers anywhere. 
In fact, it was many years afterward before a country paper grasped 
the fact that the news of the community wherein it was printed would 



266 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

be interesting to the readers of the same. But instead, lengthy arti- 
cles, months old, reprinted from foreign journals, together with prolix 
essays on trite themes, and redundant discussions on useless points, 
filled the columns of the papers. The advertisements, therefore, are 
nearly the entire source from whence a glimpse of the times may be 
had. 

A volume of the Martinsburg Gazette, commencing January 11, 
1811, having been kindly placed at the disposal of the writer, a num- 
ber of extracts will be made from it. 

The Gazette, Vol. XII, No. 35, was printed and published by John 
Alburtis, the same who printed the Intelligencer in 1802, and was 
considerable of an improvement over its predecessor. Its columns 
are filled with advertisements and interesting reading matter, no 
doubt, at the time it was published. The world at the date given was 
passing through mighty convulsions. The conquering Napoleon was 
laying empires broadcast beneath his feet and his sway seemed only 
limited by the confines of the earth. Even America experienced a 
slight tremor at the onward tread of the great soldier, for Waterloo 
was as yet many years distant. On this side of the water the United 
States was looking sullenly at the encroachments of England upon the 
rights of Americans, and protesting against the many outrages com- 
mitted by her. A volcano was grumbling and groaning, destined to 
burst ere long and with such effect as to sweep before it all feeling 
except aversion, from out the hearts of Americans for the mother 
country, who yet entertained the hope of some day recovering her lost 
valuable possessions. England's course in 1812-14, left in the minds 
of her former children a hatred that exists to this day. 

In consequence of this expected war, lands in the Valley of Vir- 
ginia, as well as elsewhere, depreciated much in value, and large 
quantities were thrown upon the market. The uncertainties of the 
time made money scarce, for those who had it hoarded it up. Various 
parties advertise tracts of land for sale, and among those were Adam 
S. Dandridge, Edmund Pendleton and William Anderson. Lots in 
Martinsburg were offered for sale by William Burns and John Kobin- 
son, and Thomas C. Smith, the merchant, desires to dispose of his 
property. But the politicians did not " depress " with everything 
else, for Mr. John Baker, the great Federalist, a noted opponent of 
the War with England, announces himself as a candidate for Congress. 
A singular state of affairs existed in Berkeley County at this time ; the 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 267 

majority of its citizens were rank Federalists, which meant opposition 
to a war with England ; singular this was, considering the fact of how 
handsomely her sons turned out during the Revolutionary struggle. 
' Mr. Baker was a native of Berkeley County and was one of its most 
able lawyers. He was elected at the ensuing election after he pub- 
lished his card above spoken of, and was active in endeavoring to pre- 
vent a war with England. He advocated whilst in Congress the im- 
provement of the Potomac River. He died in Shepherdstown in 1823 
from a fever, that prevailed as an epidemic in that town for some 
months. 

The Martinsburg Academy, a school of a very high order, is adver- 
tised by two of the trustees, David Hunter and Obed Waite. Rev. 
John B. Hoge, one of the noted family of Hoges, whose father has been 
spoken of in another chapter, taught Latin and Greek in this academy. 
The tuition was $20 per year, each student to pay in addition to that 
sum a proportion of the expenses of the house rent and fire wood. The 
following June, 1812, the same gentleman inserted the following ad- 
vertisement in the Gazette: 

A teacher of the Latin and Greek languages is wanted to take 
•charge of a school in Martinsburg, Va. The subscribers feel confident 
that a school in this place, for teaching said languages, constantly 
kept, and well managed, would produce to the teacher $400 per annum, 
and they will assure the payment of $300 for the first year to a person 
well qualified to teach said languages; none other need apply. 

Obed Waite, 

Jan. 10, 1812. David Hunter. 

There were numerous stores for that day, and some that would 
doubtless compare favorably with any in Martinsburg at the present 
time, at least in amount of stock kept. 

James Faulkner, in an advertisement dated December 21, 1810, 
states that he has a fine stock of "fashionable spring goods, liquors, 
wines and groceries." This gentleman, the father of the late Charles 
J. Faulkner, and grandfather of Senator C J. Faulkner, and E. Boyd 
Faulkner, Esq., was brought, as has been stated, from Ireland, when 
a lad of ten years, by Richard McSherry, and placed in charge of 
Michael McKewen. Mr. Faulkner, in addition to being a merchant, 
was a magistrate, being appointed in 1813. He had strong military 
tastes and some time before 1812 had an artillery company in Martins- 
burg. He entered the war and acted with much skill and gallantry, 
■coming out of the service with the rank of major of artillery. In 1803 



268 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

he married the only daughter of William Mackey, and died in Aprils 
1817, being buried with Masonic and military honors. Mr. Mackey 
was a captain in the Revolutionary army and one of the justices of 
Berkeley County, about 1810. 

In 1811 Daniel Zinn &■ Co. advertises that they have just received 
an additional supply of " hardware, saddlery, tinware and bonnetts," 
which to the ladies of to-day must seem a singular mixture of commod- 
ities. Thomas C. Smith still continues to keep a general store, and 
Alexander Cooper informs the citizens that he is just opening a fine 
assortment of new goods. William Long makes it known that he has 
again begun business at the old stand, and Ignatius O'Ferrell lias just 
opened a stock of goods in the room formerly occupied by Lewis and 
Robert Willis. 

In 1812 John Stewart advertises that he will shortly open in his 
new store room a fine stock of dr}^ goods and groceries, and Daniel 
Burkhart wishes to make it known that he has just opened in tlie store 
formerly occu[)ied by Mr. Price, a "handsome and neat assortment of 
spring and summer goods." Some of the old account books ke[)t by 
Mr. Burkhart are still preserved by his son. Dr. Burkhart, of Martins- 
burg, and the writing in them is like copper-plate printing — as even 
as type and not a blotch in the books from beginning to end. 

In 1813 James Faulkner, still in the dry goods and grocery busi- 
ness, took in as a partner John K. Wilson, the firm being Faulkner & 
Wilson. The firm of Daniel Zinn & Co. was dissolved and that of 
Zinn, Nadenbousch & Co. succeeded it. But in 1814, Daniel Zinn, 
alone, states that he is now occupying the store formerly used by 
Alexander Cooper. Adam Young also kept a store at this time. 

The foregoing were the principal mercantile establishments, or 
general stores, but there were a number of others in special lines, or 
rather they were the shops of the mechanics of the varied trades. 
John Guseman had a nail factory in Martinsburg, and George Hivner 
carried on milling in what was even then called the "old Stephen's 
mill." Levi Price must have had a kind of drug store, although the 
drug store in its modern shape had not as yet been evolved from tlie 
cross between a doctor's shop and a grocery, at least not in country 
towns. Mr. Price has half a column in praise of his patent medicines. 
Edward A. Gibbs conducts a woolen-mill in Martinsburg, and Jona- 
than Cushwa has a " picking and carding machine, on Tuscarora, two 
miles from town." George Kearns carries on the chair-making, paint- 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 269 

iiig and turning business, and Michael Kearns carries on the wheel- 
wright business, making flax, wool, and cotton wheels, check-reels 
and Windsor chairs, and did all kinds of turning. 

Christopher McAllister was a shoemaker, and Jacob Poisal was a 
boot and shoemaker; James B. Small was a tailor; John Helferstay 
a saddle and harness-maker; James Boden was a blacksmith; Jesse 
Hayden was engaged in watch and clock-making and selling jewelry; 
Samuel Graham succeeded John O'Ferrell in the tanning business; 
Edward A. Gibbs paid cash for old copper and brass; Jacob Bishop 
sold bar and scrap-iron, and William B. King and John Rice at their 
mill on Mill Creek offer twenty-one barrels of flour for 100 bushels 
of wheat. A. Jewett, attorney at law, announces the fact that he is 
ready for clients, and Dr. Thomas McPherrin informs the public that 
he has recommenced the practice of medicine and can be found at " his 
old shop," opposite Mr. Ignatius OTerrell's store. 

Taverns were plentiful. December 14, lb 10, Michael McKeweu, 
the Irishman, who took charge of James Faulkner when he Avas a lad, 
advertises that he has just opened a tavern in the yellow house where 
he formerly kept store, on South Queen Street, between the market- 
house and the bridge. The " Globe Tavern " was also kept at this 
time. The "Martinsburg Inn " was kept by Luke Pentouey, on Queen 
Street. Graham's Tavern was also well known. 

Amusements were not overlooked in that early time by any means. 
Racing horses was indulged in by almost all gentlemen of the days 
of 1812-14. Race courses were kept up in the vicinity of every" town 
that made any claims to be anything at all. There were courses at 
Charlestown, Berryville, Middletown, Shepherdstown, Hardscrabble, 
Winchester, Martinsburg and other points, and considerable sums 
were ofl^ered as prizes. 

Theatricals, also, were patronized. On the evenings of February 
15 and IG, 1811, a performance was given for the purpose of raising 
funds to purchase a fire-engine. What became of the scheme does 
not appear by the Gazeife, the editor not saying a single word about 
it, simply publishing the advertisement. In the following September 
a theatrical troupe played " Matrimony, or the Prisoners," " The 
Rival Soldiers," "Love Laughs at Locksmiths," and " The Wag of 
Windsor," at Mr. Billmire's tavern. The " American Museum of Wax 
Figures," also gave an exhibition about this time at the "Martinsburg 
Inn," kept by Mr. Pentoney. 



270 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

The first indications hereabouts of the war of 1812-14 is an adver- 
tisement signed by Lieut. Lewis P) Willis, U. S. A., who established 
a recruiting rendezvous in Martinsburg and calls for " Men of patriot- 
ism, courage and enterprise," 

July 4, 1814, a grand celebration was held in Martinsburg. All 
political differences were laid aside, and to do that involved a struggle, 
no doubt, that was very trying, for the bitterness that prevailed over 
the war issue was scarcely equaled in the days of 1861-65. Yet those 
old worthies of 1812-14 exhibited more of a fellow-feeling for each 
other than their descendants. All must bow at that day before the 
grand idea of celebrating the Nation's Natal Day — Federal and Re- 
publican joined hands when the name of Washington and the Declara- 
tion of Independence was mentioned. They had speeches and toasts 
and whisky, and a procession, and a grand dinner at Mr. Goulding's 
Inn, and everybody was happy and had a headache next morning. 

In August of this year a large camp-meeting was held not far 
from Martinsburg on the land of John Campbell. 

The following curious advertisement appears June 30, 1814, and 
is worthy of a reproduction here: 

A White Negro. — Fifty Dollars Reioard. — Ran away on Sunday 
the 19th instant, from Barnett Lee, in Berkeley County, and on the 
22d instant was purchased by the subscriber, living at Berkeley 
Springs, where the reward will be paid, together with all reasonable 
charges for the delivery of the said boy — called Losson ; he adds Thorn- 
ton to iiis name — perhaps he may call himself Thornton or Losson. 
He is as white as any man on earth, but a slave for life; his hair is 
red and turned up behind with a nice curl; has blue eyes; is a little 
cross-eyed, and but for that would be very likely; is five feet ten 
inches in height, or thereabouts; is about twenty years of age; he had 
on and took with him a light summer coat of cotton striped blue, a 
swan-down vest striped black, two cotton ditto striped of some color 
not remembered ; a roundabout white chain filled in with black wool, 
almost black itself — pantaloons of the same; an old fur hat that lops 
a little on the side, but it is more than probable he may have a new 
hat by this time; he had on half-worn shoes; had three shirts, one 
linen and two muslin, two of them considerably worn. 

If this man Losson knew I had bought him, Mr. Lee tells me, that 
he would come home to me, as the white negro expressed a great 
desire to be sold to me. I never saw him myself, but the man has 
seen me, I suppose. I would be thankful to those who may have any 
knowledge of said fellow, for the earliest information of my purchase, 
and if he comes in himself he shall have the above reward. 

June 23, 1814. Robert Bailey. 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 271 

In 1819 Anthony Blondell conducts the jewelry and silversmith 
business, and David Scott is a watch and clock-maker, while Adam 
Stewart, Jacob Poisal and Joseph Semans are the shoemakers, and 
Solomon Hedges carries on cabinet-making. Mr. William Kroesen is. 
proprietor of the " Columbian Inn," the most noted tavern in this sec- 
tion o£ country at the time. 

In 1825 financial matters had become much easier, the effect of the 
war having worn off to a considerable extent. New businesses were 
springing up. A woolen cloth factory was in operation in Martins- 
burg, with C. G. Conradt as proprietor, and there were many fine 
stores, among which was one kept by James P. Erskine & Co. 

During the year 1825 India rubber ^yas introduced into the United 
States, and as an illustration of the great progress made since that 
time in an article now so generally used for ten thousand purposes,, 
the following is copied from the Gazefie: 

"' India Rubber Shoes. — These shoes, some of which have been 
imported into Philadelphia from South America, are spoken of as 
very comfortable and useful articles. Indeed, says the National 
Gazette, their advantages must appear evident, when the elasticity and 
impenetrability of the gum of which they are made, are compared 
with the thin and absorbing quality of the leather or stuffs of which 
shoes are commonly manufactured. Females are becoming to exhibit 
a little more prudence in their winter apparel, and it is very likely 
that the bill of mortality would be most happily lessened, were these 
gum elastic shoes substituted for the fashionable sandals which are 
now in use." 

May 17, 1825, a meeting of citizens for the formation of a library 
society, was held at the reading room of Mr. Evans, and Dr. Richard 
McSherry was called to the chair, and t!harles J. Faulkner was ap- 
pointed secretary. The committee previously appointed reported in 
substance as follows: The association to be called the " Martinsburg 
Library Society." Shares were issued, each member of the society 
being obliged to own one share at least, valued at $2. The following 
were the first officers: President — Dr. Thomas Davis. Directors — 
Rev. Charles P. Krauth, David Holmes Conrad, John F. Snodgrass, 
Dr. Richard McSherry. Librarian — James N. Riddle. Treasurer — 
William N. Riddle. 

On the afternoon of June 1, 1825, the most terrific storm known 
in this section occurred. The wind and rain was fearful and being 



272 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

accompanied by hail, the damage was very great. The storm seemed 
to rage the fiercest in the Back Creek Valley, but extended eastward 
about five miles. Entire fields of the growing crops were cut off or 
leveled with the ground, and as the wheat was in full head and heavy 
it could not rise again, thereby causing the destruction of thousands 
of bushels of grain. From the description in the old Gnzcftc this 
must have been what we would now call a cyclone. 

On the 15tli of June, 1889, the day preceding the one when the 
writer copied the above from the old files of newspapers, a storm 
occurred in Berkeley County that is asserted by old citizens to be the 
severest on record. As in the storm of 1825, whole fields of grain 
were destroyed and many valuable fruit and other trees broken off and 
rendered useless except for fire-wood. One farmer alone lost 300 of 
his best fruit trees. Shortly before this storm, the heaviest fiood 
known to residents along the Potomac sjsread devastation and ruin 
among hundreds of families. The Potomac rose seven and a half feet 
higher than the highest water-mark on record at that time, and swept 
away many bridges, including all on the Potomac except three. In 
Martinsburg along the Tuscarora Creek much property was injured, 
and throughout the county nearly all of the bridges were swept away, 
causing immense loss and inconvenience. 

July 4, 1825, Martinsburg celebrated the birth of the nation in 
splendid style. The day being fine, at an early hour the handsome 
corps of riflemen under the command of Capt. Erskine, paraded in the 
public square. Moses T. Hunter, Esq., was the orator of the day and 
Oen. Elisha Boyd read the Declaration of Independence. Several 
gentlemen of the engineer corps engaged in laying off the route of 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal were invited to join the festivities, among 
whom were Col. Abert, Lieuts. McComb, Findlay, Berry and Vail. 
The procession formed under the direction of the marshal. Col. 
Oregory, assisted by Capt. Lauck, the line being "graced by the 
presence of a large number of the ladies, who walked in the parade 
with the same pride that swelled in every bosom and beamed in every 
eye," to use the language of the patriotic old editor of the Gazette, 
Mr. Washington Evans. After the oration and reading the happy throng 
moved to the place of Capt. Kaiisom, near Martinsburg, and partook 
of a plentiful dinner prepared by Mr. John McCleary, at which Col. 
Hunter and Col. Gregory presided. A number of toasts were drunk, 
and from the collection the three following splendid specimens 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 273 

have been selected for reproduction. We of this highly cultured and 
superlatively improved epoch, are too prone to look upon things of 
the past as being something not at all to be thought of as equaling our 
efPorts — a little crude, in fact, if not even boorish, and especially Fourth 
of July Celebrations, with what we are pleased patronizingly to term, 
their "spread eagle" speeches, etc. But if any modern assembly, 
with the best talent in the land to head it, can show in a group of 
toasts, three of them with as much meaning, a* much beauty of 
expression, or as much conciseness and comprehensiveness combined, 
as in these three Martinsburg efforts of 1825, then the pen hereof 
shall be forever silent on the subject. This trio of gems — deserving 
"frames of gold and letters of silver" — are as follows: 

"Let the subjects of crowned despots keep the birth-days of their 
masters: — we celebrate the birth-day of our freedom." 

"The devoted band of patriots who declared us free; — would you 
try them by their peers: — go to Thermopylfe." 

"Lafayette, the man without fear and without reproach. His 
whole history is a proof that the days of chivalry are not over." 

After an interchange of courtesies, much harmless hilarity and a 
general strengthening of the sentiments of liberty among all, the 
company returned to town at an early hour, terminating the festive 
occasion with a grand ball at the Globe Tavern. 

Politics in those old days ran high, and if we think these latter 
days have monopolized all the bitterness we are greatly mistaken. 
Gen. Jackson was running in 1825 and the Gazette was strongly 
opposed to his election. It published all tlie current charges against 
the old hero of New Orleans, and made light of his nomination. 
Jackson was then United States senator, and when he became the 
nominee of his party he resigned his senatorship, fearing that he 
might be charged with corruption and intrigue if he retained his 
position while running, whereupon the editor of the Gazette remarked 
that " General Jackson may remain quiet; he has climbed the ladder 
of political fame as high as he will ever get — he will never become 
president of the United States,", but that writer was not the only one 
who ever predicted backwards ; half of the newspapers of the country 
made the same mistake a year or so ago. 

The current prices for the leading marketable products on Sep- 
tember 22, 1825, in Martinsburg may be interesting: 



274 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Flour, per barrel |4 00 @ 4 50 

Wheat, per bushel 55 @ 60 

Rye, per bushel 30 @ 33 

Corn, per bushel 30 @ 35 

Oats, per bushel 20 @ 25 

Potatoes, per bushel 40 @ 50 

Apples, per bushel 20 @ 25 

Beef, per pound 4@ 5 

Pork, per pound 4 @ 5 

Veal, per pound 4 @ 5 

Butter, per pound 10 @ 12 

Eggs, per dozen 6@ 8 

Peach Brandy, per gallon 80 @ 1 00 

Apple Brandy, per gallon 34 @ 35 

Whisky, first proof, per gallon 24^@ 25 

Two fires about one month apart destroyed considerable property 
in 1825. The first occurred October 23, and was the large stone 
merchant, grist, plaster and clover mills of Gen. Elisha Boyd, located 
on Mill Creek. It contained a large amount of grain, including 103 
bushels of clover seed. The general's loss was $12,000, and the loss 
of other individuals about $4,000. There seemed to be an epidemic 
in fires during the preceding few years, for in addition to several less 
destructive conflagrations there were four other merchant mills in 
the county consumed by the flames during the three years last past 
the date given. 

November 18, a disastrous fire broke out in Martinsburg at 10 
o'clock at night, destroying five buildings : two stone dwelling houses, 
a stone kitchen, a frame house and a stable. The fire originated in 
Col. John Strother's stable, spreading to his dwelling and a dwelling 
occupied by Abel Dunham. There seems to have been no fire appa- 
ratus, as the trustees of the town immediately voted $500 for the 
purpose of purchasing a fire engine. The scheme for obtaining an 
engine by funds resulting from the theatrical performances given in 
1811, must have fallen through, or they could not raise the money. 

Early in the 30s, Mr. Edmund P. Hunter became proprietor of 
the Gazette and the paper became the Martinsburg Gazette and Pub- 
lic Advertiser. By this time the managers of newspapers had grasped 
in part, at least, the idea of a local column, for in this paper of April 
25, 1833, several local matters are given under a separate heading 
from the balance of the news. The superior court of chancery had 
just closed its sessions in Martinsburg, and the local editor gives 
some account of the proceedings of the court. Judge Richard E. 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 275 

Parker presided. The editor states that criminal cases are rare and 
even breaches of the peace are uncommon, and felicitates the citizens 
of Berkeley upon this state of affairs, and consolingly says: "Although 
the editor is a member of the legal profession, he rejoices in this con- 
dition of things." 

Extensive fires in the country are reported. There had been no 
rain for several weeks, and everything was as dry as powder, when by 
some means or other a fire was started on the farm of Harrison Waite, 
about two miles southeast of town. Large quantities of timber, fences 
and outbuildings were destroyed, and barns and residences threatened. 
The flames spread with the rapidity of a hurricane and extended to 
the plantations of William G. Burns, George Burns, William Kroesen 
and others. Two other fires were on the farms of John Sutton, Mr. 
Welshans and Mr. Emmert. 

A local item conveys the important information that " We are 
happy to state that the President of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal 
Company will, in the course of a few weeks, dispatch an engineer to 
this county to survey the route of a canal from this place (Martins- 
burg), along the Opequon to the Potomac." The next issue of the 
paper gives a glowing account of the fact that the survey has been 
made and that the work will at once be begun. 

The paper bewails the fact that "a line of stages has been put 
on from Hagerstown to this place, as they will now only receive three 
mails from the east per week, whereas by the horsemail they had one a 
day." In this same issue the announcement is made that Charles J. 
Faulkner, John B. D. Smith and John S. Gallaher have been ap- 
pointed to settle the boundary line of Virginia, on the part of this 
State. Edward A. Gibbs has just established an iron and brass 
foundry in Martinsburg. 

Rumors of the cholera approaching this section caused the trust- 
ees of the town to bestir themselves in the matter of giving Martins- 
burg a thorough cleansing. A large committee was appointed to 
attend to the matter. 

Berkeley County was quite early in the field in the caused of tem- 
perance. On May 27, 1833, a meeting of the Berkeley Temperance 
Society was held in the Lutheran Church in Martinsburg, and a 
stirring address was made by the president of the society, Mr. Ed- 
ward Colston. The officers of the organization were: President — 
Edward Colston. Vice President — John Doll. Secretary — John 



276 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Strother. Treasurer^ — Jolm K. Wilson. Managers — James M. 
Brown, William C. Matthews, Jacob Medtart, Jolm N. Kiddle, George 
Tabb, Hiram Henshaw, Archibald Sheerer, Christian D. Wolff and 
Adam Senaker. 

Among the occasional advertisements of the sale of negroes the fol- 
lowing, published in 1833, bears such a stamp of humanity about it 
that it gives the lie to the wholesale charge of heartlessness on the 
part of those who owned slaves. Those who have never lived among 
the "institution" as it existed in the ante helium days can not realize 
the verity of it: 

^^ Negro Woman For Sale. — One that is well acquainted with 
every kind of house-work, sober and honest, sold for no fault, and 
will not be sold to a trader. Enquire of the printer.'" 

"July 11, 1833." 

The following, copied from the Gazeite of July 18, 1833, shows 
that the cyclone, as well as the flood, is not a modern invention: " The 
southern portion of this county was visited by a tremendous hurricane 
on Sunday evening last. It crossed the mountain near Gerrardstown, 
and blew with violence toward Harper's Ferry, embracing several 
miles in width. It unroofed houses and barns, carried off quantities 
of fencing, destroyed a great deal of timber, blocked up the roads, 
and injured a great many growing crops of corn and oats. The storm 
was accompanied with hail. In a ride through a portion of Jefferson 
County over which the storm passed in its fury, we observed immense 
oak trees borne to the earth, and the large tops of some carried to 
such a distance that it was impossible to designate their original 
locality." 

An account of the discovery of anthracite coal is given in a paper 
issued in September, 1838. It states that for many years the fact of 
the existence of coal in this county had been surmised, and that even 
small specimens had been exhibited, but that during the past month 
Mr. Purcell, an engineer of the canal, accouipanied by several indi- 
viduals, made an examination near the source of Meadow Branch, be- 
tween the Third Hill Mountain and Sleepy Creek Mountain, and after 
digging a few feet under the surface of the earth encountered a " bed 
of anthracite coal of the finest quality." The engineer reported that 
from the physical analogy of the region in this county to the coal fields 
of Pennsylvania, that coal must exist here in great abundance. A 
large specimen weighing several pounds was labeled and sent to the 
Virginia Historical Society. 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 277 

In November of this year, 1833, occurred the great meteorological 
display, undoubtedly the finest ever witnessed by man. The editor of 
the paper makes a note of it the day following, and says that although 
he did not see it himself, those who had that pleasure describe it as being 
wonderful: "the heavens appearing to be wrapped in a blaze of light, 
with hundreds of shooting stars flying in every direction." The fol- 
lowing issue of the paper gives glowing accounts of the rare scene, 
and the various theories then prevalent, not one of which hinted at 
the now accepted cause known almost to a certainty to science — the 
existence of a great meteor-zone lying near the earth's orbit. 

As a fitting conclusion to the comparatively primitive era, at least 
in many things, of the days preceding 1885, in the lower valley, and 
as an important precurser of the progress that at the date given was 
about to begin, the following advertisement seems appropriately to 
have a place in this work. It is the first advertisement in relation to 
a railroad train, and the first approach to a schedule ever published 
in this section of country and must have been, consequently, the first 
ever printed in a newspaper west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, 
through the whole extent of country stretching to the Pacific, and for 
that matter clear around the world till it struck Engfland. And 
strange to say, this important event, one of the most momentous in 
the world's history, received not one word of notice in the paper in 
which it was printed. Politics in 1834 was too important a matter 
upon which to waste a line of the valuable space of a newspaper in 
reference to such a common-place afPair as the inauguration of a rail- 
road, even if that railroad was the first to stretch its giant arms over 
these mountains, and to bring cities and towns and villages closer by 
days and weeks to a market for their products. But here is the 
quaint schedule: 

TRANSFORTATZOMT 

ON THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAIL ROAD 
Befween Harper^s Ferry and Baltimore. 

THE CONVEYANCE OF TONNAGE on the Rail Road to and 
from HARPER'S FERRY, will take place on and after Monday 

The TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS will commence 
on Wednesday the 3d of December. 

The Rail Road Company will until further notice, receive Produce 
and Commodities generally, at the termination of the Railway at 



278 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Harper's Ferry, and will give to the parties from whom they may 
receive such produce receipts for the same, engaging to deliver it to 
the consignees in Baltimore, or at any other public or private Depot, 
in good order, when it shall be delivered in such order to the Company. 
They will also receive produce in like manner, at Wever's Mill, 
and at Berlin, or at such otheT points as may hereafter be agreed upon 
with forwarders. 

The charge of the Company for conveying flour to Baltimore will 
be as follows, viz: 

From Harper's Ferry, 33 cts per bbl. 

Wever's Mill, 32 do do 

Berlin, 31 do do 

The Rail Road Company will also receive Goods or other commod- 
ities in Baltimore, — or any other public or private Depot on the Rail 
Road, — destined for Harper's Ferry, — transport and, immediately on 
arrival, deliver the same at the termination of the Railway, to the 
consignee thereof. 

The charges by the Company for such conveyance from Baltimore 
to the Ferry will be as follows, viz: 

Plaster of Paris, per ton, 32.40. 

Salt & Salted Fish per 100 lbs. 14^ cts 

Merchandise, do 22| do 

Trains of Wagons will start daily from Harper's Ferry and from 
Baltimore and proceed regularly to those places, respectively, and all 
commodities will be promptly forwarded in their successive order 
after being received by the Company. 

Fair prices can be obtained at all times for the GONDOLAS from 
which produce may at any place have been delivered to the Rail 
Road Company. 

The TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS will, until further 
notice, be as follows, viz: 

FROM HARPER'S FERRY TO BALTIMORE OR 
FREDERICK CITY. 
A Train will start at 8 in the morning 

FROM BALTIMORE TO HARPER'S FERRY. 
A Train will start every morning at seven o'clock, reaching the 
Ferry at about three in the afternoon. 

W. WOODVILLE, 
Superintendent of B. & O. R. R. 
Office of Transportation, Dec. 4, 1834. 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 279 



CHAPTER XIV. 

TRUSTEES, COUNCILMEN, COURTS AND OFFICERS. 

The Trustee Form of Government— Enlarged Powers— The Act— First 
Officers— XuisANOES— Market Kules— Trustees vs. Parrett— James 
Faulkner as a Justice— "No Property Found"— A Famous Dog Case— 
"Trustees vs. Snowdell et ux."— Spirit of Improvement— Petition 
OF Faulkner, et als.— No Riding on Sidewalks- Tax List— Old 
Market House— Incorporation of Martinsburg— The Act— First 
Proceedings— More Improvements— Fire Engines— The War Period 
—"A Messenger from Winchester "—A Sad Municipal Entry— From 
'62 TO '65— Reorganization— Still Further Improvement— A New 
Charter — List of Officers — List of Justices — Sheriffs, County 
Clerks, Prosecuting Attorneys— Circuit Court Judges and Clerks 
—Other Officers— Practicing Attorneys. 

BECOMING tired of the old system of justice courts as applied to 
their growing little city, the citizens of Martinsburg applied to the 
General Assembly of the Commonwealth to grant them by law the 
privilege of electing a set of trustees to regulate and oversee their 
town matters. So, in response to the reasonable request the follow- 
ing act was passed February 9, 1813: 

"An ad concerning the town of Martinsburg in the County of 
Berkeley. 
" Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that it shall and may be 
lawful for the free white male freeholders and housekeepers above the 
age of twenty-one years, who shall have been resident in the town of 
Martinsburg in the County of Berkeley twelve months next preceding 
every election to be held by virtue of this act, and all free white male 
persons above the age of twenty-one years, being citizens of Virginia 
and freeholders in said town, whether residents of said town or not, to 
meet at the Court House of Berkeley County within the said town, on 
the first Monday of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and thirteen, and on the first Monday of April in every second 
year thereafter, and then and there (under the superintendence of 
one or more justices of the peace of Berkeley County resident in the 
said town), nominate and elect seven fit-persons, being freeholders 



280 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

and residents of said town, to serve as trustees thereof, who shall 
continue in ofl&ce until the next succeeding election (provided they 
continue to reside in said town), and no longer, unless re-elected. 
And it shall be the duty of the justice or justices, superintending the 
election as aforesaid, to notify the persons thus elected as trustees 
within five days thereafter. 

" Every trustee, before he enters on the execution of the duties 
required by this act, shall take an oath, or make solemn affirmation, 
before a justice of the peace for the County of Berkele}^, that he will, 
faithfully and impartially, to the best of his skill and judgment, per- 
form his duty according to this act; whereupon all the rights vested 
in, and powers given by the law to, the trustees appointed for said 
toAvn before the passage of this act, shall cease to exist in the said 
former trustees, and shall vest in the trustees chosen by virtue of this 
act, who are hereby made a body corporate and politic by the name 
of ' The Trustees of the Town of Martinsburg.' 

" The said trustees chosen by virtue of this act, and qualified as 
aforesaid, or any four of them, shall have power to make bye-laws and 
ordinances for the regulation and good government of the said town ; 
and the same to amend, alter and repeal, at their pleasure; and to 
enforce obedience thereto by such penalties as they shall think fit, 
not exceeding ten dollars for any one offense, recoverable by warrant 
before any justice of the peace for the said county of Berkeley: 
Provided, such by-laws and ordinances shall not be repugnant to, or 
inconsistent with, the laws and constitution of the State or of the 
United States. 

"The said trustees, chosen by virtue of this act, and qualified as 
aforesaid, or any four of them, shall have power to remove or abate 
nuisances, or cause the same to be done ; to repair the public streets 
and alleys; and to do, or cause to be done, all other things necessary 
for the benefit of the said town; and to assess taxes on the inhabit- 
ants, and all property within the bounds of the said town, for the 
purposes aforesaid, and such other purposes as they shall think fit, 
for the benefit of said town; — provided tbat the assessments and 
taxes aforesaid shall not exceed seventy-five cents on each tithable, 
and five per cent on the annual rents of real property within said 
town, in any one year, agreeably to the books of the commissioners 
of the revenue in Berkeley County. 

" The trustees shall have power to appoint one of their own body 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 281 

to preside at their meetings, who shall continue in office, as president, 
during the pleasure of the trustees; and in case of his absence, the 
trustees may appoint a president j^^^o tempore, who shall have power 
to call a meeting of said trustees, whenever he shall think fit, any 
four of whom may proceed to business. They shall keep a fair 
record of their proceedings and accounts of monies by them received 
and disbursed. Every trustee who shall refuse or neglect to meet, 
when required, not having a reasonable excuse (to be judged by the 
board of trustees^, shall for such refusal or neglect, forfeit and pay a 
fine, not exceeding fifty dollars, to be collected by the collector here- 
inafter to be appointed, as other assessments, and applied to the use of 
said town. 

" The said trustees shall have power (upon the petition in writing 
of two-thirds of the freeholders of any section or part of the said 
town, or of so many of such freeholders as repiesent, or hold, in their 
own demesne as of fee, two-thirds, in value, of the houses and lots in 
such section or part of said town, praying a bye-law to pass for pav- 
ing the sidewalks of such section or part of the town, at the expense 
of the owners of the houses and lots in such section or part of the 
town, in proportion to their property held tlier.e) to pass such bye- 
law, if they think it reasonable, and to enforce obedience to the same, 
as in case of any other bye-law made by them. 

" The trustees shall meet at the court house of Berkeley County in 
the said town of Martinsburg, within fifteen days next after their 
election, and being qualified as this act directs, may proceed to execute 
the duties required thereby. 

" This act shall commence and be in force from and after the first 

day of March next. 

"Wm. Munford, 

'' Keeper of ihe Rolls:' 
The act also provides for the filling of the places of trustees in 
case of death, resignation, etc. ; to render a true account of their 
transactions; for the appointment of a tax collector; and stipulations 
reserving the rights acquired before the passage of this act, etc. ; which 
is not necessary here to reproduce. 

In pursuance of the foregoing an election was held, which resulted 
in the selection of the following gentlemen as trustees: David Hunter, 
Elisha Boyd, William Gregory, Edward A. Gibbs, John S. Harrison, 
Thomas C. Smith, and Obed Waite; David Hunter was chosen pres- 



282 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

ident of the board; Obed Waite, clerk; Charles A. Stewart, collector 
of taxes, and Thomas C. Smith, treasurer. 

The first business after the organization in April, 1813, was the 
drafting and enactment of a number of by-laws for the better govern- 
ment of the town, the appointment of a market master, and laying 
down a set of regulations to govern the market. Peter Shaffer was 
made clerk of the market. 

The first by-law was, naturally, against nuisances. The city fathers 
made it punishable with fines to permit any dead animal to remain on 
their premises, and failing to remove it at least 200 yards from the 
town limits, and 200 yards from the dwelling house of any person. 
Also, prohibiting any "blue-dyer or hatter" from throwing any dye- 
stufp in or near the public spring, and that no one should wash in or 
near the said spring any dirty linen or other wearing apparel. No 
lumber, wood, dirt, sticks or stones were to be thrown on the streets, 
alleys or public square of the town under a penalty of not less than one 
nor more than ten dollars, provided, of course, none of the articles 
named used for building purposes were included in the proscription. 
It was also enacted that where any person apprehended danger from 
fire emanating from smiths' shops or other shops, houses or buildings 
without a stone or brick chimney or stovepipe not sufficiently high, 
they could have the same declared a nuisance and removed. Galloping 
or " straining " horses in the public streets was likewise prohibited, 
under a penalty of $2.50, and if the offender be a servant or slave, 
unless the master pay the fine for him, the offender was to receive such 
number of lashes, not exceeding fifteen, as a magistrate would adjudge. 
No person was to shoot or fire a gun, rifle, or pistol, except for the 
purpose of killing " pigeons, mad dogs, or other fowls," which it may 
be lawful to shoot. Also, that no chimney was to be burned out in 
dry weather, but when the roofs were covered with snow or were wet, 
and if they caught and burned with a blaze out of the top, then the 
owner or occupier was liable to a fine. The usual rules regulating the 
old markets were enacted, prohibiting the sale anywhere in the town by 
any person, except at the market house until after nine o'clock in the 
morning, all kinds of meats, fish, game, vegetables, eggs, butter, 
fowls, and any other kind of produce; empowering the clerk of the 
market to seize all unsound or diseased products, and all light-weight 
butter, etc. A by-law was passed in September, laying the taxes for 
the year 1813 at $2.50 on every $100 of the rent of any property, and 
50 cents on each tithable person. 



BERKELEY COUNTY, 283 

The first case on the records for iufraction of the by-laws of the 
town was " Trustees of Martinsburg vs. William Parrett." And it 
seems to have been quite an important event, at least judging from 
the array of prominent names in connection with the matter. Thomas 
C. Smith, a prominent merchant and one of the trustees of the town laid 
the information before himself and several of his fellow-trustees, 
whereupon they obtained the magisterial services of James Faulkner 
who Avas a justice of the peace at the time, and that gentleman issued 
a summons for the apprehension of " said Parrett," directed to any 
constable of Berkeley County. At the bottom of the old time-browned 
document, entirely written, over the signature of James Faulkner, ap- 
pears the additional direction to "summon the following persons as 
witnesses: A S. Dandridge, Conrad Hogmire, Meverill Locke and 
Charles D. Stewart." Squire William Riddle tried the case, or at 
least rendered judgment against the defendant, in the sum of $2.50 
fine and thirty cents costs, with seventy-two cents for witnesses. It is 
altogether probable Mr. Parrett failed to put in an appearance, for on 
the back of Squire Faulkner's summons is the endorsement " No prop- 
erty found." The terrible charge, as stated in the summons is that 
"a certain William Parrett did, on the 22d inst., strain a horse on 
Queen street in the town of Martinsburg." This was in February, ISli. 

Another case of almost equal importance as the one just given 
occurred a little later on, in April: "Trustees vs. Snowdell and ux." 
The charge as stated in the summons was "a certain Jacob Snowdell 
and his wife Catherine did lay a dead dog at the house of Juliann 
Smurr in the Town of Martinsburg." An endorsement on the back 
states: " Dismissed at the Pltf's cost." 

The thriving little town seemed to be ambitious of advancement, 
and she appears to have had property-holders who would be an ex- 
ample not only for the Martinsburg of the present day, but for many 
larger cities, where it is a constant fight between the corporate authori- 
ties and the property-holders in the matter of improvements. In 
many cities protest after protest is entered against grading, opening 
and improving streets, but in 1814, when money was scarce, the 
spectacle is witnessed of the niiajority of the owners of business houses 
and dwellings petitioning the trustees to pass an ordinance compelling 
themselves and the others on Queen Street from Burk to King Street 
to pave at their own expense and grade the same, the sidewalks in 
front of their property. The trustees favorably heard the petitioners 
and promptly passed the by-law, and following is a portion of it: 



284 HISTORY OF THE LOWEE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

''Whereas, James Faulkner, Thomas C. Smith, Daniel Burkhart, 
Jacob Hamme, George Porterfield, George Wolff, Nicholas Marquart, 
John Hooper, Adam Young, and Philip C. Pendleton (being two- 
thirds of the freeholders in that section or part of the Town of Mar- 
tinsburg, on both sides of Queen, from King to Burk Street, and 
holding in their own demesne as of fee, two-thirds in value of the 
houses and lots in said section or part of said town) have presented a 
petition in writing to the Trustees of the Town of Martinsburg, 
praying a by-law to pass for paving the sidewalks of the said 
section or part of the town at the expense of the owners of the houses 
and lots in the said section or part of the town in proportion to their 
property held there: and the Board of Trustees have taken the said 
petition under serious consideration, and having materially deliberated 
upon the subject thereof it is the opinion of the board that the prayer 
of the said petitioners is reasonable and that the said board, etc." 

Then follow the stipulations in regard to the kind of pavement, 
which was to be of either good flag-stone or brick, with a substantial 
curbing and a gutter. All porches were to be taken down on Queen 
Street between King and Burk Streets, and all cellar doors leveled with 
the pavement. To facilitate matters James Faulkner, William Long 
and Jacob Hamme were appointed commissioners to see that the work 
was carried out. The time stipulated for the finishing of the work, 
hoAvever, was too short, and a petition from the majority of the house- 
holders asked further time; they were: Daniel Burkhart, Ignatius 
O'Ferrall, John A. Stewart, Abraham Levy, James Faulkner, William 
Long, Jacob Hamme and Edward Beeson. Time Avas granted till 
November. Improvements having begun they were gradually ex- 
tended to other sections of the town, for at a meeting of the trustees 
in September, a resolution Avas passed that three commissioners be 
appointed to view the streets and the market-house and report what 
repairs were necessary thereon. William Gregory, Edward A. Gibbs 
and David Hunter Avere the committee. iVt this same meeting a 
by-law was passed prohibiting riding on the sideAvalks. 

What the population of Martinsburg Avas at this^time, 1814, is now 
difficult to determine, but, judging from the taxes received for that 
year, it AA'as not large. The committee appointed to view the streets 
and market-house, in making their report to the board, incidentally 
give an idea of the matter, for they state that as the taxes "will not 
exceed $450," they of course must keep the appropriations within that 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 285 

sum, etc. A number of the streets were improved, the following sums 
being appropriated: For market-house, $70; Queen Street, $150; 
King, $G0; Burk, $40; German, $20; John, $30; Martin, $10; 
Stephen, $8; College Alley, $12; Spring, $5 — $405 in all. Quite a 
respectable sum at that time. 

At the election in April, 1815, the same board of trustees as 
previously, were elected, with one exception. It then stood, David 
Hunter, John S. Harrison, William Gregory, Kobert Wilson, Elisha 
Boyd, Obed Waite and Edward A. Gibbs. Mr. Hunter was again 
selected as president, and Obed Waite, clerk of the board. William 
Gregory was ordered to procure two sledge hammers, two crow-bars, 
one set of tools for blowing rocks and two shovels, for the hands, and 
render an account, etc., and he was also ordered to repair Queen 
Street and Burk Street and draw on the clerk for the expense, "which 
is not to exceed $10." At the next meeting in May among other 
matters transacted was the appointment of a committee consisting of 
William Gregory, Robert Wilson, and Obed Waite, to examine the 
stalls in the market house, fix prices on them and rent them. Sev- 
eral appropriations were made to various streets in the town, and 
altogether their seems to have been a spirit of improvement abroad 
that was quite commendable. All the business was concentrated on 
Queen Street between Burk and King Streets, and the old market 
house stood in the center of the public square. It was a rough, 
rambling building and not enclosed on its sides. 

In 1856 application was made by the leading citizens to the Gen- 
eral Assembly of the commonwealth for that body to pass an act in- 
corporating the town of Martinsburg, which request was complied with 
in March of that year, the law to take effect the first Monday in May 
of the next year. Accordingly an election was held at the time speci- 
fied, and the first entry in the minute book of the council is as fol- 
lows: 

" Pursuant to ' An act for the election of a Mayor and Council and 
other officers of the town of Martinsburg, and to define their duties 
and powers, passed March 6, 1856,' an election was held on the first 
Monday in May, 1857, for one fit and proper person for Mayor of the 
said corporation, and for two fit and proper persons from each of the 
three wards as Councilmen, and for one fit and proper person from 
each of the said wards as sergeants thereof, when the following per- 
sons were duly elected : 



286 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

" Mayor — John Q. A. Nadenbouscb. 

" Councilmeu — First Ward, Bernard Doll, E. G. Alburtis; Second 
Ward, Dennis Murpliy, Philip Diffenderfer; Third Ward, George F. 
Rutherford, Patrick Cunningham. 

"Sergeants — First Ward, George A. Schoppert; Second Ward, 
Thomas P. Hollis; Third Ward, S. S. Dowlan." 

At a meeting of the council on the 5th day of May, 1857, were 
present the mayor, J. Q. A. Nadenbousch, and Councilmen Diffenderfer, 
Cunningham, Rutherford and Doll. 

Bernard Doll was appointed clerk 2^^o tern, and on motion of P. 
Diffenderfer, the laws then in force were accepted for the government 
of the corporation, and to continue in force until new ordinances be 
adopted. Application was made to the county authorities for the use 
of the jail for corporation offenders, which was granted, and suitable 
rooms were ordered to be procured for the use of the council. Ser- 
geants were required to give bonds in the sum of $1,000 each for the 
faithful performance of their duties. 

At the next meeting, May 16, E. G. Alburtis was elected clerk, 
Bernard Doll, treasurer, and W. H. Mathews, market master. 

Many improvements were at once inaugurated, the first being the 
ordering the better paving of the sidewalks on Queen Street. Other 
streets followed during this year and rules for governing the market 
were enacted. Steps also were taken for providing the little fire engine 
with a shed in the rear of the market house. 

To give an idea of the great increase in the valuation of property 
since 1857, the following figures are copied from the estimate for the 
town levy: Estimated amount of rents in First Ward, $17,665; Second 
Ward, $15,388; Third Ward, $8,793; Total, $41,838. 

There were in the town, 585 tithables; 211 dogs; 7 hotels; 14 
pleasure carriages; 7 carts, drays and wagons; 7 ale houses; 9 car- 
riages at livery. 

May 5, 1858, the officers elected were: 

Mayor — Anthony S. Chambers. 

Councilmen — First Ward, Bernard Doll, A. M. Vanarsdale; Sec- 
ond Ward, J. H. Blondell, M. J. C. Hoffman; Third Ward, P. Cun- 
ningham, David A. Cline. 

Sergeants — First Ward, George A. Schoppert; Second Ward, 
Thomas P. Hollis; Third Ward, James F. Reed. 

Clerk — A. M. Vanarsdale. 



BEKKELEY COUNTY. 287 

Treasurer — Bernard Doll, 

During this year Burk Street and a number of other streets were 
ordered to be improved. 

May 5, 1859.— Mayor, Philip Diffenderfer. 

Councilmen — First Ward, Bernard Doll, E. G. Alburtis; Second 
Ward, J. H. Blondell, Charles M. Shaffer; Third Ward, John Weller, 
George F. Kutherford. 

Clerk— E. G. Alburtis. 

Treasurer — Bernard Doll. 

At the meeting of the council. May 7, J. H. Blondell, E. G. 
Alburtis and C. M. Shaffer were appointed a committee to make inves- 
tigations in regard to the price, construction, etc., of a new fire engine 
and report the same to the council, which they did on the 12th, at 
which meeting J. H. Blondell was instructed to make a thorough ex- 
amination of the First Baltimore Hose Company's engine, and if it 
was satisfactory to purchase. A favorable report being returned by 
Mr. Blondell the "machine" was purchased for the sum of $762.50. 
During this year great improvements were going on in paving, and 
many persons objected to going to the expense of laying new sidewalks, 
or in fact laying any. Many of the objectors had to be fined, and 
some of them repeatedly, before they could be made to fall into line 
with the progressive citizens who desired to improve their little city. 

May 10, I860.— Mayor, A. S. Chambers. 

Councilmen — First Ward, Joshua Homrich, Bernard Doll ; Second 
Ward, C. M. Shaffer, M. J. C. Hoffman; Third Ward, Joseph S. 
Chambers, George F. Kutherford. 

Clerk — Bernard Doll. 

Treasurer— C. M. Shaffer. 

May 8, 1861.— Mayor, A. S. Chambers. 

Councilmen — First Ward, Bernard Doll, C. W. Doll ; Second Ward, 
C. M. Shaffer, James Mathews; Third Ward, G. F. Kutherford, J. S. 
Chambers. 

Clerk— L. W. Doll. 

Treasurer— C. M. Shaffer. 

Matters in Martinsburg at this date were in a terribly unsettled 
condition, but bad as it was it was only a slight breath of the storm 
that was to break around her during the next four years. Many 
valuable lives were to be sacrificed, homes broken up and property 
destroyed, before white- winged peace would again hover over the 



288 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

little hilled city at the gate of the great valley. Yet scarcely any indi- 
cation of what was going on around them appeared in the recorded 
proceedings of the council. Those were times when men had to be 
cautious. No one could tell who would occupy the town to-morrow. 
So it behooved the city fathers, as well as all others, to keep their 
public mouths closed, and to be chary of what they instructed their 
clerks to put down in black and white. Only one business entry 
indicates for this whole two or three months of almost continued war- 
fare anything to tell of the awful drama. One of the minutes of the 
proceedings states that the council appropriated "$25 for the relief 
of bhe families of soldiers who were away." But it does not state to 
what kind of soldiers. There were decidedly two classes of soldiers 
who went from Martinsburg, and there were most decidedly two classes 
of opinions here. One can not tell from the records whether gray or 
whether blue received the benefit. 

Another record, in the proceedings of July 23, stands simple and 
sad in its simplicity: It tells one of the most sorrowful tales ever 
recorded. The elder Martinsburg resident will recall that gloomy 
episode in the annals of the first year's strife. The minute speaks its 
own unwelcome tidings: 

"A messengfer from Winchester arrived announcing the battle of 
Manasses, and the expected arrival of the bodies of Peyton R. Harri- 
son, Holmes A. Conrad, Tucker Conrad and John Fryatt, whereupon 
the council adjourned to meet at 4 o'clock on Saturday afternoon next." 

After this last meeting no further proceedings occur until 1862, 
where the record states that no regular election took place at the 
proper date, and then a further skip is made to July 12, 1865. That 
hiatus in the proceedings is eloquent in its very silence. 

July 12, 1865, a special meeting was held with A. S. Chambers, 
the last mayor elected, present, Bernard Doll, C. M. Shaffer, J. S. 
Chambers, G. F. Rutherford, C. W. Doll. A special election was 
ordered to be held, and as a result the following officers appear on 
September 11, 1865: Mayor, James Mathews; clerk, George R. 
Wisong; treasurer, George F. Rutherford. 

1866 — James Mathews, mayor; William Wilen, clerk. 

1867 — J. W. Robinson, mayor; Frank Burr, clerk. 

In 1868 the charter of the town was re-enacted and amended by 
the Legislature of West Virginia, and several changes were made. 
The number of wards was retained, but the time of election was made 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 291 

to occur on the fourth, instead of the first, Monday in May. Addi- 
tional powers were granted to the corporate authorities, under which 
many important improvements have been accomplished. 

Up to 1870 Martinsburg had no defense against fire save one of 
the old-style, ineffective fire-engines, but in September of that year 
the council appropriated a sum of money for the purchase of a steamer. 
A committee was selected to make choice of a first-class engine and 
apparatus, and they contracted with the Silsby Manufacturing 
Company for one of their best rotary steam engines of fine power, and 
the town is now in possession of a splendid defense against conflagra- 
tions of any extent. The sum paid for the machine, including hose 
and other necessary apparatus, was about $8,000, and it was a good 
investment, for property holders now feel a security they never felt 
before its purchase. 

Several special acts of legislation were obtained in 1872, among 
which was one "for the extension of the corporate limits of the town 
of Martinsburg;" one for the purpose of authorizing the corporate 
authorities to issue bonds for the purpose of repairing streets and 
public highways, and the construction of gas and water-works; and 
another amending the act passed in 1868 amending the original char- 
ter of 1856. 

An election was held in July to take the sense of the voters in 
regard to an extension of the town limits, and Avas carried for extension 
by a handsome majority. The town Avas also re-arranged in regard to 
wards, two more being added, making five in all, and a special election 
was held to fill the vacant positions in the said two. An election was 
also held in 1872 to provide for the issuing of bonds for the purpose 
of constructing water-works and repairing the streets of the town. 
The creation of a police force was ordered in this year. In 1873 
a water board was created, and a grant of certain privileges to the 
Martinsburg Gas Company, for up to this late date (1872-73) Martins- 
burg had neither gas nor public water-works. 

Following is a list of the mayors and clerks from the re-enactment 
of the charter for the town in 1868: 

1868 — J. N. Abel, mayor; H. N. Deatrick, clerk. 

1869-70— J. N. Abel, mayor; J. T. Picking, clerk. 

1871 — A. P. Shutt, mayor; George Doll, clerk. 

1872-78 — A. P. Shutt, mayor; Frank Patterson, clerk. 

1874-75 — A. S. Chambers, mayor; Archibald Oden, clerk. 



292 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



1876— A. P. Shutt, mayor; W. G. Butler, clerk. 

1877 — P. Showers, mayor, appointed. 

1878 to 1883— W. T. Logan, mayor; P. J. Foreman, clerk till 1872, 
when C. A. Young was elected clerk and has continued till the pres- 
ent time. 

1884 — C. O. Lambert was elected mayor and has successively 
filled the position since that date, still retaining it (1890). 

The corporate authorities are doing much to improve the town. 
Streets are being re-graded, obstructions are being removed, paving 
of sidewalks is being strenuously insisted upon, and altogether the 
ancient little city is gradually emerging from its primitive condition 
to a very beautiful and thriving place of 8,000 population. A num- 
ber of factories are in successful operation and there are prospects for 
several more in the near future. 

For purposes of preservation and reference for those who may wish 
to know who were the oflficers of the law from the formation of the 
county onward the following lists have been gleaned and prepared 
with much labor from the old records; and although there may be an 
occasional mistake, and a few omissions, yet it is as perfect as all require- 
ments necessitate: 



1772. 
Ralph Wormley. 
Jacob Hite. 
Van Swearingen. 
Thomas Rutherford. 
Adam Stephen. 
John Neville. 
Thomas Swearingen. 
Samuel Washington. 
James Nourse. 
William Little. 
Robert Stephen. 
John Briscoe. 
Hugh Lyle. 
James Strode. 
William Morgan. 
Robert Stogden. 
James Seaton. 
Robert Carter Willis. 
Thomas Robinson. 

1773. 
Horatio Gates. 
Robert Stephen. 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 

Robert Tabb. 
John Throckmorton. 
Thomas Lowery. 
Godwin Swift. 
James Ariss. 
William Patterson. 
Morgan Morgan. 

1776. 
Adam Stephen. 
John Neville. 
Samuel Washington. 
Robert Stephen. 
Horatio Gates. 
John Cooke. 
Henry Whiting. 
Robert Worthington. 
William McGaw. 
John McAllister. 
Anthony Noble. 
John Morrow. 
Robert Throckmorton. 
John Gantt. 
Walter Baker. 



George Grundy. 
George Cunningham. 

1780. 
James Nourse. 
Moses Hunter. 
Robert Baylor. 
Robert Stewart. 
George Scott. 
James Wilson. 
John Kearsley. 

1785. 
John Davenport. 
William Porterfleld. 

1792. 
Joseph Swearingen. 
William Henshaw. ^ 
James Maxwell. 
Nicholas Orrick. 

1796. 
John Turner. 
Andrew Waggoner. 



BEKKELEY COUNTY. 



293 



Alexander White, 
John Kerney. 

1798. 
John Briscoe. 
William Darke. 
Charles Orrick. 

1801. 
James Stephenson. 
Winn Winship. 
Richard Baylor. 
Charles Orrick. 
William Alexander. 
Charles Cramer. 
George Hite. 
William Riddle. 

1805. 
James Anderson. 
George North. 
Daniel CoUett. 
Abraham Davenport. 
■ Smith Slaughter. 
Magnus Tate. 
John Hunter. 
Van Rutherford. 
John Packett. 
William Hancher. -^ 
George Porterfield. 

1807. 

Erasmus Gantt. 
Jacob Weaver. 
Philip Nadenbousch. 
John Campbell. 

1810. 
William Mackey. 
Joel Ward 
George Wolf. ,/ 
\Michael Roouey". 
George Harris. 
Joseph Baldwin. 
William Pendleton. 

1813. 
James Faulkner. 
James E. Throckmorton 
William Rush. 

1815. 
William Riddle. 
James Faulkner. 



1816. 
Thomas Robinson. 
Dougal Campbell. 
Samuel Boyd. 
Levi Henshaw. 
William Gregory. 
Jacob Weaver. 
George Harris. 
Jonathan Jones. 
Elias Edmunds. 

1818. 
Edward Colston. 
John S. Harrison. 
William Morrison. 
Edward A. Gibbs. 
Benj. Comegys. 
William Campbell. 
Robert Snodgrass, Jr. 

1820. 
John Porterfield. 
Israel Robinson. 

1821. 
Richard Cleggett. 

1825. 
Jacob Van Doren. 
Silas Harlan. 
Isaac S. Lauck. 
William Grantham. 

1832. 

Daniel Burkhart. 
Tillotson Fryatt. 
Archibald Shaver. 
Robert V. Snodgrass. 
John Lamon. 
Thomas Davis. 
Francis Silver. 

1834. 
Philip C. Pendleton. 
Conrad Hogmire. 
Edward Winning. 
Samuel Baker. 
William L. Boak. 
Alexander Pain. 

1836. 
Thomas S. Page. 
Richard McSherry. 
William Maslin. 



1838. 

Jacob Hamme 

Stephen R. Snodgrass. 
Robert K. Robinson. 
Jacob Myers. 
Daniel B. Morrison. 

1841. 
James M. TSTewkirk. 
James H. Robinson. 
Alfred Ross. 
James L. Campbell. 

1843. 
Lewis B. Willis. 
John Sencendiver. 

1847. 
B. M. Kitchen. 
Thomas J. Harley. 
James L. Cunningham. 
William Dorsey. 
Daniel H. Doll. 
John McKown. 

1850. 
Lewis Fry. 
George W. Holida. 
Andrew McCleary. 

1852 to 1856. 
John A. Vorhes. 
George W. Holida. 
Jacob Myers. 
A. R. McQuilken. 

A. W. McCleary. 
James L. Cunningham. 
Owen T. Hedges. 
Charles Downs. 
Thomas J. Harley. 
Robert V. Snodgrass. 
Richard Bodine. 
Henry J. Seibert. 
Robert K. Robinson. 

B. M. Kitchen. 
Lewis Grantham. 
Philip Everhart. 
Casper Stump. 
Joseph D. Haven. 
John McKown. 
James L. Campbell. 
Lewis Fry. 
Alfred Ross. 



2'J4 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



D. S. Eichelberger. 
John E. Boyd. 
Alexander Newcomer. 
Philip C. Pendleton. 
Stephen R. Snodgrass. 

1856 to 1860. 
George Doll. 
G. H. McClure. 
B. Cushwa. 
W. Dorsey. 
Bernard Doll. 
S. J. Williamson. 
J. Hoffman. 
F. D. Dollinger. 
Isarel Robinson. 
J. W. Hollis. 

E. Showers. 
Christian Tabler. 
J. C. Rawlins 

J. L. Cunningham. 

A. R. McQuilken. 
J. R. Stewart. 

T. J. Flagg. 

W. H. Mong. 

Joseph Stuckey. 

C Stump. 

(K. Doll. 

M. H. Payne. 

P. Everhart. 

J. Q. A. Nadenbouseh. 

W. Leigh. 

W. J. Hansen. 

M S. Grantham. 

J. M. Newkirk. 

I. E. Houser. 

M. Lupton. 

B. C. Speck. 
P. T. Hedges. 
W. D. North. 

J. T. De Haven. 
W. H. Mong. 



R. K. Robinson. 
A. Buckles. 
H. J. Seibert. 
R. Bodine. 
J. G. Manor. 
A. W. McCleary. 

1860 to 1865. 
R. Bodine. 
H. J. Seibert. 

A. R. McQuilken. 
P. J. Musseter. 

J. W. Hollis. 
G. Doll. 

B. F. Harrison. 
J. L. De Haven. 
J. Hoffman. 

W. McKee. 

M. S. Grantham. 

C. Stuckey. 
W. N. Riddle. 
O. T. Hedges. 

B. M. Kitchen. 
J. H. Barnetts. 

J. Q. A. Nadenbouseh. 
W. Sperow. 
A. Myers. 
R. Lamon. 
J. W. Stewart. 

C. Tabler. 

J. M. Newkirk. 
J. E Brady. 
T. Henshaw. 
J. W. Kendrick. 

1881 to 1885. 
Charles Stuckey. 
M. Tucker Bowen. 
John D. Barney. 
Joseph Hollis. 
James Billmyer. 
C. U. Thoruburg. 



William H. Mathews. 
W. B. Colston. 
G. M. Tabler. 
G. R. Hollida. 
George H. Ropp. 
P. H. Thomas. 
Jacob Syester. 
William Light. 

■ 1885 to 1889. 
Charles Stuckey. 
M. T. Bowen. 
John Myers. 
James M. Billmyer. 
Thornton Henshaw. 
Robert C. Burkhart. 
Charles P. Matthaei. 
William McKee. 
G. W. M. Tabler. 
G. W. D. Folk. 
J. H. Alexander. 
R. R. Coffenberger. 
S. O. Cunningham. 
Jacob F. Lemen. 
Jacob Syester. 
H. H. Cox. 

1889 to 1893. 
George W. Swimley. 
S. S. Felker. 
John H. McBride. 
John Myers. 
Robert P. Bryarly. 
William McKee. 
E. G. Bartlett. 
W. H. Frankeu berry. 
W. H. Taylor. 
R. R. Coffenberger. 
B. W. Gyer. 
G. C. Ditto. 
D. W. Snyder. 



SHERIFFS. 

Adam Stephen, April 1, 1772; Samuel Washington, October 17, 
1776; Cato Moore, August 31, 1793; James Wilson, August 29, 1795; 
John Kearsley, July, 1797; James Campbell, July 12, 1799; John 
Davenport, August 29, 1801; William Porterfield, July 23, 1803 
Nicholas Orrick, July 27, 1807; John Turner, August 5, 1808 
Andrew Waggoner, July 2(i, 1809; — second term, July 17, 1810 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 295 

James Stephenson, July 5, 1811; — second term, July 22, 1812; 
Charles Orrick, September 22, 1813; — second term, September 21, 
1814; William Riddle, June 28, 1815;— second term, August 19, 1816; 
James Anderson, July 7, 1817; — second term, November 13, 1818; 
Magnus Tate, July 19, 1819; — second term. August 1, 1820; George 
Porterfield, July 20, 1821;— second term, August 23, 1822; Erasmus 
Gantt, July 30, 1823; — second term, September 17, 1824; Jacob 
AVeaver, November 29, 1825; — second term, January 16, 1827; George 
Harris, December 6, 1827; — second term, December 15, 1828; Philip 
Nadenbousch, January 5, 1830; — second term, February 21, 1831; 
Joel Ward, January 30, 1832; George Wolff, 1834; Michael Rooney, 
March, 1836; A. S. Chambers, being coroner, was acting sheriff in 
1838; Levi Henshaw, March, 1840; William Gregory, 1842; Edward 
Colston, January 9, 1844; Benjamin Comegys, January, 1846; Silas 
Harlan, 1848; Daniel Burkhart, 1850; Tillotson Fryatt, 1852; Jacob 
Van Doren, July 1, 1852; Barnett Cushwa, 1854; — second term, 1856; 
Daniel Lafevre, 1859; — second term, 1861; J. W. Pitzer, appointed, 
1864; — elected, November, 1866; Andrew J. Thomas, 1871; — second 
term, January 1, 1873; M. C. Nadenbousch, January 1, 1877; George 
A. Chrisman, January 1, 1881; Robert Lamon, January 1, 1885; 
Charles H. Miller, January 1, 1889. 

CLERKS OF COUNTY COURT. 

William Drew, May 19, 1772; Moses Hunter, 1785 to 1797; Henry 
Bedinger, 1798 to 1803; David Hunter, 1803 to 1829; John Strother, 
1829 to 1831; Harrison Waite, June 13, 1831, and Norman Miller, 
acting clerk; Jacob Van Doren, 1851; E. G. Alburtis, 1852 to 1858; 
James W. Robinson, 1858; Seamans Garrard, 1865 to 1870; Bernard 
Doll, January, 1871; C. W. Doll, 1873, still acceptably fills the posi- 
tion, 1889. 

PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS. 

Alexander White, May 19, 1772, appointed king's attorney for 
Berkeley County; Elisha Boyd; David H. Conrad; Edmund P. Hun- 
ter, died of cholera, Septernbef 7, 1854; John E. Norris, 1854 to 1856; 
George W. Murphy, till breaking out of war; Joseph T. Hoke, 1865; 
J. Nelson Wisner, H. H. Blackburn, Edmund Shaw, R. M. Price, Lu- 
ther M. Shaffer. W. H.H. Flick, D. C. Westenhaver, P. A. Rohrbaugli, 
George W. Feidt. 



296 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES. 

This court was established in 1809; the first judge was Hon. 
Robert White, and the first clerk Obed Waite. The judges succeed- 
ing were: William Brockenbrough, who acted pro fem.j John Scott, 
also jjro tern.; Richard E. Parker; Isaac R. Douglas; Richard Parker, 
son of the former judge of the same name; John W. Kennedy, 
appointed; L. P. ^Y. Balch, appointed in 1865; Ephraim B. Hall,"^ 
1865; Joseph Chapman, appointed 1868; E. B. Hall, elected in 1868, 
but failed to qualify; John Blair Hoge, 1872; Charles J. Faulkner, 
Jr., 1881, but resigned in 1887, being elected United States senator; 
Frank Beckwith appointed to fill unexpired term, and in January, 
1889, the present incumbent, Joseph S. Duckwall, was elected. 

CIRCUIT COURT CLERKS. 

Obed Waite, April 24, 1809 ; John Strother, Israel Robinson, John 
Dunn, Joseph Burns, John Lanby; E. S. Troxell, appointed in 1866, 
and elected same year, serving till 1879, when the present incumbent, 
S. H. Martin, was elected. 

SURVEYORS. 

Robert Cockburn, 1772 ; Joseph Swearingen, 1787 ; David Hunter, 
1796; John Turner, 1798; James Maxwell, 1811; same continued for 
many years; John P. Kearfott, until breaking out of the Civil Avar; 
David Pultz, 1866; John P. Kearfott, 1872; James W. Robinson, 
1880; George W. Vanmetre; I. W. Woods. 

CORONERS. 

Robert Worthington, appointed May 19, 1772; David Shepherd; 
George North, July, 1800; William Riddle, 1801, continued for many 
years; George Wolf, October, 1821; William Riddle, 1826; Conrad 
Hogmire, April, 1830; Anthony S. Chambers, 1831, retained the posi- 
tion many years; Frank D. Staley, appointed in 1882, and is the 
present incumbent. 

In addition to those mentioned in the foregoing lists, the following 
are the oflicials of the county at the present time: The three commis- 
sioners forming the county court of Berkeley are: B. M. Kitchen, 
president; William Kilmer and George P. Riner^ — ■ 

School commissioners are E. L. Hoffman, Samuel Gold, M. S. 
Grantham, George D. Miller, Joseph A. Morgan, R. C. Burkhart, 
R. P. Bryarly, R. W. Stewart, John Grozinger, Ed. Barton, N. H. 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 297 

Snyder, Jacob Whitson, W. H. Wilen, W. Cost, W. H. Myers, D. H. 
Small, W. H. Kilmer, W. T. Cuniiingham, W. T. Siler, G. P. Kiner, 
J. Kennedy, G. C. Ditto. 

The local board of health consists of Dr. James W. McSherry, 
M. S. Grantham, E. L. Hoffman, the president of the county court 
and the prosecuting attorney. The parish physicians are: Drs. 
G. W. Swimbey, J. B. Wiley, S. N. Myers, G. B. Hedges, E. C. 
Williams, E. L. Grove, J. T. Harris, F. M. Davis, N. D. Baker. 

Attorneys practicing at the bar: E. Boyd Faulkner, Blackburn 
Hughs, C. J. Faulkner, W. H. H. Flick, J. Nelson Wisner, George 
W. Feidt, M. T. Ingles, D. C. Westenhaver, Hugh A. White, Stuart 
W. Walker, A. C. Nadenbousch, U. S. Grant Pitzer, L. D. Gerhardt. 



CHAPTER XV. 

MODERN MARTINSBURG. 

The Churches— Which Was First— Early Houses of Worship— Trin- 
ity Episcopal — First Pastors— Some Noted Ministers— St. John's 
Lutheran — Visiting Ministers— Rev. Christian Streit— Old Bell- 
German liEFORMED — Joint Worship — The Old Gravestones— The 
First Organ— St. Joseph's Catholic— The First Missionaries— Fram- 

BAOH, GaLLITZIN, ZOCCHI — PRESENT PROSPERITY — METHODIST EPISCO- 
PAL — Methodism in the Valley— Itinerant Preachers— Methodist 
Episcopal South — Speedy Recuperation— Faithful Workers — First 
Presbyterian — The .Scotch-Irish-" Old Tuscarora" — First Baptist 
—Rev. David Gerrard— Late Organization United Brethren— Its 
Recent Establishment — A Neat Edifice — Colored Churches— Edu- 
cational — Improvements — Fine Water System — Railroad Shops — 
Newspapers — Societies— Tornados and Floods— Other Towns of 
Berkeley. 

TRINITY PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.— As stated 
elsewherein this work, when Frederick County was created by act 
of the General Assembly of the Colony of Virginia, in 1738, a parish was 
constituted embracing the entire district and given the same name as 
the county. But in 1769, this large parish was subdivided into three, 
the upper being Beckford, the middle Frederick, and the lower 
— comprising the counties now known as Berkeley, Jefferson and 
Morgan — Norborne; so named in honor of Gov. Norborne Berkeley. 



298 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

There were three chapels in this parish at a very early date, some 
contending, in fact, that the Episcopal, or rather, at that time, the 
Church of England, has the best claim to having built the first church 
edifice in the Valley, south of the Potomac. The reasons seem to be 
strong for this claim: the leading men who organized Frederick 
County were Church of England men, and it is very natural that they 
should have a house of worship shortly after the erection of a parish. 
Certain it is, from actual documentary evidence (the records of Fred- 
erick County), that there was a "Morgan's Chapel" and a "Cunning- 
ham's Chapel," before 1750. One of these was near Bunker Hill and 
the other about twelve miles southeast of Winchester. Hedgesville, 
also, lays claim to having a chapel at an early day. Not until after 
the Revolutionary war had Martinsburg a church of this denomina- 
tion. Bishop Meade says, in his interesting and valuable work on 
" Old Churches and Old Families of Virginia," that this first church 
was erected chiefly at the cost and under the superintendence of Philip 
Pendleton, who was a devout Episcopalian, and a man of very liberal 
mind. The church stood at the entrance of the cemetery laid out by 
Gen. Adam Stephen, who had it established by law. About 1835 
the old church began to be considered unfit for use. Its walls gave 
evidence of being unsafe and measures were taken to build another 
one, not upon its site, but nearer to the center of the population of the 
town. A lot being donated on King Street, an effort to raise the nec- 
essary funds was made, which, being successful, the building was put 
under construction about 1839. Not until 1813, however, was the 
structure finished, at which time it was consecrated by Bishop Meade, 
who was assisted by Bevs. Alexander Jones and J. Chisholm, of Vir- 
ginia, and Bevs. James A. Berck and Theodore B. Lyman, of Mary- 
land. In regard to the clergy of the parish there are many breaks in 
the succession. Whether their names have been forgotten, or whether 
there Avere no ministers in charge of the parish at those times, it is 
impossible now to determine. But it is altogether probable the latter 
is the correct solution. 

Although Norborne parish was organized in 1769, no clergyman 
can be identified as its rector until 1771, when Eev. Daniel Sturofis 
was licensed for the parish by the bishop of London. He was suc- 
ceeded in 1786 by Rev. Mr. Veasey, and he by Rev. Mr. Wilson. In 
1795 Rev. Bernard Page became rector, who was, according to Bishop 
Meade, " deeply pious, zealous and far beyond the ministerial stand- 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 299 

ard of the parish." Rev. Mr. Heath came next, who was minister till 
about 1800, when he died not far from that date. Rev. Emanuel 
Wilraer succeeded Mr. Heath, and was in charge of the parish about 
1805-06-07. Rev. Mr. Price was rector from 1811 till 1813, and then 
there seems to have been a gap of several years in consequence of the 
War of 1812-14. In 1815 Rev. Benjamin Allen took charge of the 
parish. He is said to have been "a man of untiring energy and deep 
piety, and not unknown to the literary world. He published six 
volumes of poems, a history of the Reformation that ran through 
three editions, a history of the church and edited the Christian Maga- 
zine. He also edited, while in Martinsburg, the Laymaii's Magazine, 
the first religious paper ever published in the valley of the Shenandoah. 
He was the first to propose a division of the diocese, and the commit- 
tee appointed to confer with the bishop and standing committee on 
this subject was Rev. Enoch Lowe, Edward Colston, and Robert Page. 
He died on ship-board coming from a foreign trip where he had 
sought a restoration of his shattered health. His successor was Rev. 
Thomas Horrel, in 1816, who remained three years. From 1819 rect- 
ors served in the following succession: Revs. Enoch Lowe, Edward 
R. Lippitt, 1823; John T. Brooke, 1826; James H. Tyng, 1830; 
William P. C. Johnson, 1832; Cyrus H. Jacobs, 1836; Charles C. 
Taliaffero, 1837 ; James Chisholm, 1812; D. Francis Sprigg, 1850; 
Richard T. Davis, 1855; W. D. Hanson, 1860; John W. Lea, 1875; 
Robert Douglas Roller, 1879; and Rev. Henry Thomas, the present 
pastor, 1888. 

St John's Lutheran Church. — The main facts in the following 
sketch are gleaned from a sermon delivered in 1876 by Rev. M. L. 
Culler: St. John's Lutheran is one of the oldest organized congrega- 
tions in the valley, and was founded by German emigrants, who came 
from Pennsylvania and Maryland, the nucleus being formed here 
about 1776. A church record book, the joint property of the Lutheran 
and Reformed congregations (which worshiped in the same house 
until 1832) is still in existence, bearing the date 1779. The first 
record made therein is the baptism of Magdalen a Frautz, February 
25, 1779. Not until 1790 was there a resident pastor, but the Gospel 
was preached faithfully to the congregation, and the sacraments ad- 
ministered by ministers of the Lutheran Church, who visited them as 
often as possible, in connection with numerous other congregations 
scattered over four or five counties. Until a church building was 
obtained, these services were held in the houses of the members. 



300 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

The first regular pastor of whom any certain knowledge remains 
was Rev. Christian Streit, a man of fine education and earnestly 
devoted to the work. In 1785 he took charge of a Lutheran congre- 
gation in Winchester, the field of his operations embracing a circuit 
of about fifty miles, including the present counties of Frederick, 
Clark, Jefferson and Berkeley. Rev. Mr. Streit was born in New 
Jersey and graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1771, 
where he studied theology under the instruction of Rev. Dr. Muhlen- 
berg, the father of Rev. Peter Muhlenberg who threw off his gown 
and put on the uniform of a soldier at Woodstock in 1776. During 
the Revolution Mr. Streit was chaplain of the Third Virginia Regiment. 
While at Winchester he was, associated with Rev. Dr. Hill of the 
Presbyterian Church, in charge of the Female Seminary, He died 
March 10, 1812. 

Succeeding Rev. Streit, and the first pastor who resided in Martins- 
burg, was Rev. John David Young, who took charge in 1790 and 
continued till 1800, and then after an absence of two years, returned 
and remained till his death, February 11, 1804. Rev. Freidrich 
Wilhelm Jazinsky filled the two years of absence of Rev. Young. Rev. 
John P. Ravenack became the second pastor, in 1808, continuing till 
1814, when he resigned his pastorate, and entered commercial pursuits 
in Martinsburg. Rev., John Kachler, a very young man, became 
pastor in 1817 and continued till 1819, when Rev. C. P. Krauth, also 
a young man, took charge. This gentleman became one of the leading 
ministers of the church, being in 1834 elected president of the Penn- 
sylvania College, and in 1850 professor of biblical and oriental 
literature in Gettysburg College, in which position he remained till 
his death in 1867. Rev. Jacob Medtart succeeded Dr. Krauth in 1827, 
and remained till 1835, when Rev. Reuben Weiser took charge till 
1837. Then came Rev. Charles Martin, from 1837 to 1842; Rev. 
Samuel Sprecher in 1842, who resigned during his first year on 
account of ill health; Rev. Joseph A. Seiss, 1843 to 1845; Rev. John 
Winter, 1845 to 1847; Rev. C. P. Krauth, Jr., for one year till April 
1, 1848, when he became pastor at Winchester; Rev. B, M. Schmucker, 
1848 to 1852; Rev. Reuben A. Fink, in 1852; Rev. William Kopp, 
1855 to 1857; Rev. Edwin Dorsey, 1858; Rev. Charles Martin, 1860 to 
spring of 1861, when his labors were cut short by the war. In 1866 
Rev. J. S. Heilig became first post-bellum pastor, and remained till 
the summer of 1868, when Rev. M. L. Culler took charge, December 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 301 

1, 1869, continuing till July 24, 1881. Rev. R. C. Holland came in 
1881, and Rev. C. S. Trump in 1888, the present pastor. 

The first church edifice was the common property of the Lutheran 
■and Reformed congregations, and was built of logs. It was located 
on the corner of John and Church Streets, and purchased in 1786 
from John Shartel, who had it almost finished as a tavern. It was 
under roof when it was purchased, the deed being made to Andrew 
Siling, Martin Riser, Christopher Wagner and John Smith. An 
organ was purchased, and a bell (the first church bell ever seen in 
Martinsburg) was brought from Hagerstown, Md. It was of cast- 
iron, and served its purpose well, hanging from the gable of the old 
log church, summoning worshipers to the house of God. In 1803 
this old bell was replaced by one of bell-metal, Aveighing 313 pounds, 
and costing $181. 89. The first communion cup of which there is any 
knowledge preserved here, is still in existence. It bears the date 
1791, and a myterious inscription — P. K* B. K. M. Its meaning 
is not known. 

In 1815 a fund was raised jointly by the Lutherans and Reformers, 
amounting to $3,059, for the purpose of building a new church for 
their general use, but the project failed. But at a council-meeting in 
1829 the Lutherans resolved to build a church, which was consummated 
in a few years, but not until 1832 was it dedicated. Rev. Abraham 
Reck dedicated it. In 1854 the church was much improved. They 
purchased a new bell and sold their interest in the old one to the Re- 
formers. During the Civil war the congregation was very much scat- 
tered. For about four years the building was used as a hospital, and 
it was very much injured. There were many differences in opinion 
among the membership at the close of the war, in regard to questions 
of politics, but they have nearly all died out. The government ap- 
propriated, in 1868, the sum of $1,078 as compensation for injury 
done the building, and this sum together with $500 additional raised 
by contributions, was used in repairing the edifice. They have a 
membership now of over 300 and a Sabbath-school with an attendance 
of nearly 300 scholars. 

The German Reformed Church. — At an early day there was a 
large immigration into Pennsylvania from the Palatinate, Germany, 
and these immigrants in time sought other sections wherein to make 
their homes. Many of these came to the Valley of Virginia and, of 
•course, brought their religion with them. Those who came to this 



302 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

section at first had no regular pastors, and for many years were visited 
by both the German Reformed and Lutheran clergy. Having no 
church building services were held and sacrament administered at the 
dwelling of some member. In the year 1786 a log building was pur- 
chased in the town of Martinsburg by the Reformers and Lutherans 
jointly, where, on alternate Sundays, the two congregations worshiped. 
In the graveyard that surrounded the old church were buried many of 
the early pioneers of both the denominations named, and the grave- 
stones of those faithful old workers in the vineyard of the Lord can 
still be seen rearing their rude heads and pointing the way the souls 
of those underneath have gone. The church which was used jointly 
by the two congregations was found to be too small, and not Avell 
located for the increasing population; so in 1846 the Reformed congre- 
gation procured a more eligible location and erected a more commodi- 
ous building on Burk Street, at a cost of ^5,000. The congregation 
that was at that time organized by a few persons, has now a member- 
ship of 250 and a Sunday-school of over 150 scholars. Some of the 
national prejudices and peculiarities of worship of the first members 
have yielded to the times. Services were formerly conducted in Ger- 
man, but they have long since been supplanted by the English. 

Rude and unpretentious as the first church was, it was not regarded 
as complete without an organ and a bell. The latter was purchased, in 
conjunction with the Lutherans, in 1808, and, as has been stated in the 
sketch of the church named, was the first bell to be brought to this 
portion of the Valley. It was known as the "big belP' for many years. 
The organ, also, was the first instrument of the kind introduced here 
and was an object of great interest, many persons attending church at 
first for the purpose of hearing it. 

After the organization of the congregation the first regular pastor 
was Rev. George Adam Geting, who was succeeded by Rev. Jonathan 
Rahauser; Lewis Mayer, from 1808 to 1820; Samuel Helferstein, 
1820 to 1824; Jacob Beecher, 1826 to 1831; Robert Douglas, 1834 
to 1845; Daniel F. Bragonier, 1845 to 1860; William D. Lafevre, 
1866 to 1869; Stephen K. Kremer, 1870 to 1874; John A. Hoffheims, 
1875, the present pastor. 

Sf. Josepli's Catholic Church. — There were undoubtedly Catho- 
lics among the early settlers of the Shenandoah Valley, but for over 
half a century after that settlement there was not a Catholic church in 
this whole region. The first missionaries who came through here 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 



308 



were from Frederick and Conewago, as well as from Baltimore. 
Fathers Frambacli, Gallitzen and Zocclii rode a circuit of 200 miles 
before 1800, wliicli extended to Cumberland and southward to Win- 
chester. There is a tradition that French priests traveled through 
this valley during their occupation as early as 1730, doing work among 
the Indians. This tradition may arise from the fact that there were 
priests as chaplains with the forces that defeated Braddock in 1755, 
but none of that force ever reached the valley. In October, 1811, 
Rev. Father Cahill, then residing in Frederick, Md., was called upon 
to minister to the spiritual wants of the few Catholics in this county, 
and he came and held services in a private house. This was, doubt- 
less, the first public Catholic service held in Martinsburg. After his 
visit the town became a mission, subject to the pastor in Frederick. 
From 1811 to 1830 the mission was visited at intervals by priests 
from Frederick and Hagerstown, Md., and from Harper's Ferry. 
Divine service was held at the residence of John Timmous, on Race 
Street, for the period of nineteen years. In 1830 the membership 
had increased to fifty, and during that year the pastor, Rev. Father 
Redmond, undertook the erection of a church. Liberal were the sub- 
scriptions of the few Catholics, and liberally were they assisted by 
Christians of other denominations, and soon the church was under 
way, but before its completion the pastor was called to Rome, Italy, 
where he died, much regretted by his spiritual children in Virginia. 
The church, however, was finished at a cost of $-4,000. The mission 
was now on a solid basis. 

At this time Rev. Father J. B. Gilda was sent, who finished the 
church in a very short time considering the fewness of Catholics in 
this section at that time. He remained five years. Father Gilda 
was a priest of untiring energy, and peculiarly able in matters of 
building temples to the Lord. Besides completing the Martinsburg 
Church he erected St Peter's Church in Harper's Ferry and the mag- 
nificent St. Vincent de Paul's of Baltimore. In 1836 Rev. Vincent 
Wheelan took charge, remaining three years. While Father AVheelan 
was here, the province, in recognition of his piety, talents and ad- 
ministrative ability, sent his name to Rome as a suitable and worthy 
candidate for the new See of Wheeling. The Holy Father selected 
Father Wheelan, and he became the first Catholic bishop in western 
Virginia. His successor was Rev. J. O'Brien, who remained in the 
mission seven years, and during his pastorate the congregation 



304 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

increased. In 18-48 Rev. J. A. Plunkett was sent, who, observing 
that the building was too small, commenced the erection of the 
present parish church. The corner-stone of this beautiful and sub- 
stantial edifice was laid in 1850, and two years afterward it Avas 
completed, costing about $40,000. 

When the diocese of Richmond was divided in 1850, Martin sburg 
and a few adjoining churches of Virginia in its western portion fell to 
the old diocese, and so remained until 1889, when an arrangement 
between the bishops being effected, sanctioned at Rome, Martinsburg 
became subject to the bishop of Wheeling, W. Va. Distinguished 
churchmen have at various times had charge of the church at Martins- 
burg, among whom were Bishops Wheelan, of Wheeling; Becker, of 
Wilmington, Del., and Kain, of Wheeling, each being located here 
several years. 

St. Joseph's is at present and has been for some time in quite a 
flourishing condition. They have a membership of about 1,200, a Sun- 
day-school of 250 children, and a large parochial school, with a force of 
competent instructors. Since the pastorate of the popular priest. Rev. 
J. McKeefry, many improvements have been added to the church edi- 
fice, notably the ornamentation of the steeple and several interior 
features. 

Methodist Episcopal Church. — Methodism in the Lower Valley, 
after the organization of two or three of the other denominations, was 
undoubtedly very early. Two Methodist ministers passed up the Val- 
ley and stayed over Sunday at the house of Lewis Stephens at Ste- 
phensburg, about the commencement of the Revokition, and, as they 
came from Pennsylvania, necessarily passed through Berkeley County. 
Whether they came by the way of Martinsburg is not now known, but 
it is more than likely they came by Shepherdstown, and if so, as their 
mission was to preach at the settlements, they, of course, preached at 
Shepherdstown. There is a tradition that Bishop Francis Asbury 
came to Martinsburg from Loudoun County, Va., in 1782, and delivered 
a sermon here. At this date, 1782, Martinsburg was beginning to be 
a town of considerable importance, and if there were any ministers in 
this section, they, undoubtedly, held services here. Berkeley County 
was included in the first circuit established west of the Blue Ridge, and 
soon after a society was organized in Martinsburg, and it continued 
until 1861, at the breaking out of the Civil war. Societies were also 
organized at other points in this section, and in the adjoining counties. 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 305 

A small log building on John Street was first used, but the members 
soon erected a stone church on the same street, south of the jail,^ 
which is still standing. Bells, to the early Methodists, and to many of 
them at the present time, were an abomination and a vanity not to be 
tolerated; so, the soft, persuasive notes of the tin horn were used to 
summon the worshipers to their house of devotion. Organs and a 
choir were equally tabooed, and nothing but the good old human voice 
was allowable in the sanctuary, but they have gotten bravely over these 
little peculiarities, and now have generally as fine music as any of 
their sister denominations. 

The Methodist Episcopal, as contra-distinguished from the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church South, was, as is well-known, opposed to slav- 
ery and were not exceedingly strong in the South. In fact, a divis- 
ion had occurred which gave rise to the slight variation in the titles. 
The society in this section, however, grew and flourished with the 
rapidity that accompanies Methodism everywhere, for the ministers 
of that church have the reputation of being great workers. In 1850 
the Martinsburg congregation became an independent charge, known 
as Martinsburg Station, with no dependence upon any other society 
for aid, and Rev. Henry Furlong was appointed by the Baltimore con- 
ference to thoroughly organize and concentrate the forces and re- 
sources of the society, which he did with good effect, after which he 
was appointed the pastor in charge. From this time until the Civil 
war in 1861 the membership grew from less than 100 to over 200. 
Then came the war and with it the cessation of all services in many of 
the churches. The Methodists especially, from the fact of their known 
hostility to slavery, suspended their services not only here in Martins- 
burg, but in the county and throughout the State, as well. In 1863 
owing to the almost uninterrupted occupation of the Federal forces, 
the church was re-organized throughout the county generally, by Rev. 
Dr. John Lanahan, presiding elder for the Virginia portion of the 
Baltimore conference. Dr. John M. Green was pastor in charge of 
the Martinsburg church at that time, and from thence forward Meth- 
odism has rapidly increased in every portion of the county, and espe- 
cially at Martinsburg. The society here now numbers nearly 500 
souls and the church property is valued at $10,000. A large Sabbath- 
school is attached to the church. From a very small membership at 
the beginning of the war, and with two ministers in charge in the 
entire county, the society now runs up to possibly 1,500, and with 



306 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

from five to six preachers. The present pastor here now is John 
Edwards. 

Methodist Episcoi^al Church Sovth. — Owing to the occupancy of 
the field by the Methodist Episcopal Church, the history of which has 
just been given, there is little to be said in regard to this other branch 
of Methodism, the church South. Most of the members of this de- 
nomination at the breaking out of the Civil war took sides with the 
South in the great struggle, and when that sanguinary conflict ended 
the most of the churches were in the haiids of the " Northern side," 
as it is termed by some, and especially was this the case along the 
border. But notwithstanding these facts, the "Southern church" ob- 
tained a foothold once more and has since gained much in strength. 
With the tenacity proverbial among Methodists, just as soon as the 
war closed, the Southern ministers began holding services, sometimes 
in court-houses, sometimes in private houses, but they held them, 
even if it was in a barn, or out in the open. They had few church 
buildings, but they had a united will, and so, along about December, 
1866, when the smoke of the cannon had scarcely disappeared from 
the battle-fields, Rev. David Shoaf and Rev. John A. Kearn began the 
reorganization of the scattered forces left after the flag of peace had 
once more been raised. Fifteen souls responded to the call and thus 
was once more a nucleus formed around which has since gathered a 
steadily increasing band of worshipers, until it noAV begins to com- 
pare quite favorably with many of the older congregations in numbers 
and work. They worshiped for nearly a year in a small school build- 
ing on John Street, but in 1867 they had erected a very neat church 
building on German Street, at a cost of over $3,500. This latter 
building, however, proved not to be commodious enough for the 
growth of the church. In 1884 an effort Avas made to raise funds for 
the purpose of building a larger edifice, and was crowned with such 
success that the foundation was laid the following year for a building 
on Martin Street, which was completed and dedicated October 2, 1887. 
It is a beautiful and well-arranged structure, and reflects much credit 
on those who had the matter in charge. The regular pastors in charge 
since 1869 were: Revs. J. L. Clark, Thomas B. Sargent, J. S. Maxwell, 
Wesley Hammond, Lewis C. Miller, Dr. John Poisal, P. B. Smith, O. 
C. Beall, J. H. Davidson, John Landstreet, J. R. Andrews. Rev. H. 
H. Kennedy is the pastor in charge at present. The membership is 
now about 225, and a Sunday-school attached has over 200 scholars. 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 307 

Presbyterian Church. — Presbyterianism, or rather the possession 
of a building by that denomination in Martinsburg, was delayed to a 
comparatively late date, considering the fact that this is one of the 
first churches to plant itself in the valley after man's arrival here 
alonof about 1730 or 1740. But it was not because there were no 
Presbyterians in the town. There were, and bore a large proportion 
to the balance of the population. A number of the most prominent 
leaders among the pioneers of this section were what is known as 
Scotch-Irish — a term very much misunderstood. A Scotch-Irishman 
was simply an Irish Presbyterian living in the north of Ireland, who 
applied the term to himself to emphasize the fact that he was not a 
Catholic. One never heard of an Irish-Scotchman. At any rate 
those Scotch -Irish were a splendid and substantial portion of the 
early settlers of the Valley of Virginia. They brought with them their 
sturdy habits, their thrift and enterprise, and their probity of char- 
acter. These are they who first set up their houses of worship. 
These are they who built "old Tuscarora" — that ruin of a venerable 
primitive temple — and in that old structure, possibly, one hundred 
and fifty years ago, they gathered to sing their psalms, and only 
psalms, for the early Presbyterians could not abide what we now call 
"hymns," and as for an organ and a choir — phew! The rafters 
would have fallen at the groans of reed or pipe. But those good 
old servitors of the Lord could pray with an unction and a meaning 
that we have almost lost in this "progressive" age. Now, as the 
church was not in Martinsburg, and it could not come here, the mem- 
bers, like Mohammed, went to it. And they got so used to going out 
to "Old Tuscarora" on Sunday morning that they forgot the fact, till 
about 1825, that it was possible for them to have a church nearer 
where they resided. They did the same thing for nearly fifty years 
at Winchester — every Presbyterian in the town going two miles and 
a half to "Old Opequon" church, near Kernstown, until some brilliant 
genius sprang the idea, "Why can't we have a church here?" Rev. 
Mr. Mathews, who had been serving the church at several points in 
Jefferson County for a number of years, came to Martinsburg to 
reside. The church edifice was built, or rather commenced to be 
built, not long after the organization began, but the exact date of its 
dedication is not now known to the writer. The ministers who have 
had charge of the church since 1830 are about as follows, as near as 
can now be conveniently ascertained: Revs. W. C. Mathews, Peyton 

19 



308 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Harrison, John Bogg, William Love and R. L. Berry. After the resig- 
nation of Mr. Berry, a call was made to a number of ministers, who 
all declined, but in 1859 Rev. A. C. Hopkins accepted the invitation 
extended to him and after several months was installed pastor. Mr. 
Hopkins resigned in 1865, and the following year Rev. J. E. Hughs 
was installed. He died in 1868, and Rev. Dr. Riddle was invited 
and accepted, who remained till 1877, when his failing health neces- 
sitated his resignation. In 1879 the Rev. F. M. Woods, the popular 
and talented gentleman at present in charge, was called and accepted 
the position. 

The Baptist Church. — For a reason or reasons that seem to be in- 
explicable, the Baptists, as a society, have made but little headway in 
the Valley of Virginia. They have very few churches on this side 
of the ridge. It is strange, when one considers the fact that they are 
very strong in the eastern portion of Virginia. It may be attributed 
to the fact that those who came here first had their religious beliefs 
settled permanently before they started from their homes in Pennsyl- 
vania, or Maryland, or New Jersey. The first settlers were either 
Episcopalians (Church of England adherents) ; Presbyterians, of Irish 
birth or descent; Lutherans or Reformed Calvinists, of German origin 
or descent, and a few Catholics. None of these came from the coun- 
ties of Virginia on the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, or at 
least very few, and they were all Episcopalians. There being no 
Baptist seed sown, there could be no fruit. But in the course of the 
years, about 1800 and after, a stray germ was carried over the mount- 
ains and it took root and grew. The only exception to this general 
rule was at Gerrardstown, the founder of which was a Baptist minister, 
who induced a number of his friends, all Baptists, to settle at that 
now thriving locality. Farther up the Valley it quickened into flower 
earlier than in this county, for not until 1858 was there an organization 
of this denomination in Martiusburg. The membership at first was small, 
there not being over a dozen souls in all who attended as members the 
ministrations of the first pastor, Rev. J. W. Jones. This gentleman 
conducted services for nearly two years in an old stone building near 
the Episcopal Cemetery, but in 1859 a lot on King Street was pur- 
chased and preparations were made for the erection of a church edifice 
thereon, but the Civil war shortly afterward came on and a partial stop 
was put to the project. From that time till the close of hostilities the 
church organization barely had an existence, yet sermons and services 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 309 

were occasionally held through the kind offers of two or three of the 
other denominations. In 1869 the building of the church was begun, 
but not until 1874 was it entirely finished, at which time it was dedi- 
cated, the dedicatory sermon being delivered by Rev. Dr. J. W. M. 
Williams, of Baltimore. The building is a very neat and substantial 
edifice and the membership is on the increase. Since the pastorate of 
Eev. Mr. Jones the following ministers have been located here in the 
work: Revs. W. S. Penick, P. P. Murray, A. E. Rogers, R. H. Pitt, 
and F. P. Robinson, the present pastor, who has given great satis- 
faction in his work whilst in Martinsburg, many having been added to 
the church. 

United Brethren in Christ Church. — This denomination, like its 
sister of the Baptist faith, was long delayed in obtaining a foothold in 
this section, but not from the same causes which kept back the latter. 
The United Brethren Church is of comparatively recent organization. 
The first conference of the church was held just one hundred years ago, 
but it has grown mightily since then, and now can point to forty- 
eight conferences in the United States, and one each in Canada, Ger- 
many, and West Africa. It has fine newspapers and other journals, 
and schools and colleges in its interest. Education is receiving much 
attention of late years, but in the early days of the society, godliness, 
earnestness, industry, the gift of prayer and a good voice that had no 
uncertain sound, were considered as paramount to technical knowl- 
edge, hair-splitting theories, and a faculty for saying fine things. 
And, if one comes down to the gist of the matter, our humble old 
United Brethren preachers were not less than half right, — if not 
wholly so. The term " united brethren " is said to have originated 
with William Otterbein and Martin Boelim, at a meeting, where one 
of them spoke so effectually that when be was through the other 
embraced him, saying, "we are united brethren," there having been 
a difference of opinion between the two old worshipers. The first 
conference of Virginia was organized in 1858, and a great falling off 
occurred during the war, but in West Virginia alone there are now 
nearly 8,000 members, thirty-six charges or stations, and three presid- 
ing-elders. The church in Martinsburg was organized in 1856, and a 
building for their use was completed the following year, but the 
structure was injured very much during the late war. They have, 
however, repaired their house of worship, and are now flourishing 
with the balance of the denominations. Rev. J. R. Ridenour is in 



310 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

charge at the present time. The church government of the United 
Brethren in Christ is very similar to that of the Methodists, they 
changing their ministers yearly, if the conference deems it fitting to 
do so. 

The Colored Churches. — There are two colored societies in Mar- 
tinsburg: Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal and Dudley Chapel Free- 
Will Baptist. The first was organized in 1866 with eighteen mem- 
bers, and they now have over 100, and a fine brick church on Martin 
Street; the other church was instituted by Miss Dudley, a philan- 
thropic lady from the North. The building was erected in 1868, at a 
cost of about $8,000, the funds being collected by Miss Dudley. 

Educational. — From a report of Prof. J. A. Cox is gleaned the 
following in regard to the Martinsburg schools: "The public schools 
of Martinsburg were organized in 1865. A part of the old Kroezen 
property, near the center of the town, was purchased for the purpose 
of opening a graded school. About 500 pupils, taught by a corps of 
eight teachers, were accommodated in this building. As the popula- 
tion increased new houses were erected, until we now have four sub- 
stantia] ward school buildings, three of brick and one of stone ; a neat 
brick building for the colored school ; and the high school, a two-story 
brick edifice, erected in 1884, pleasantly located, and furnished with 
heating apparatus, and all other modern improvements. The enroll- 
ment, in the city schools, is over 1,200. ***** 
We employ in all twenty-two teachers, twenty white, two colored. 
Martinsburg has every reason to feel proud of her most excellent pub- 
lic school system, and every reason to expect even more rapid advance- 
ment in the future, in the cause of education, than she ever ex- 
perienced in the past." 

The schools of the county are in equally as flourishing condition, 
and under the management of Supt. Dodd are doing a work that 
cannot fail to be of lasting good to the county. There is in Martins- 
burg a parochial school in charge of Sisters of Charity from Em- 
mettsburg, under the pastoral care of Father McKeefry, of St. 
Joseph's Catholic Church. There are also two fine classical private 
schools under the direction of ladies in Martinsburg, which aiford 
excellent facilities for those who do not wish to send their children to 
the public schools. No better advantages can be offered for an edu- 
cation than Martinsburg affords. 

Public and Private Enterprises. — The city of Martinsburg is well 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 311 

supplied with the finest water, and those who have gotten used to it 
wonder now how they did without it so long. From the abundant 
and pure spring known as "Boiling Spring," one of the largest in 
this valley of large and famous springs, a supply of water is brought 
in pipes to the works that is practically inexhaustible. The spring 
known as the Town or Stephen's Spring, and originally as "Morgan's 
Spring," which latter title so puzzled those who have had occasion to 
examine the old records, and which was used in former times by the 
thrifty housewife to do her week's washing in, before the trustees of 
1813 stopped it, was the main source of water supply, but now water 
is brought to their kitchen doors without their effort. In 1873 the 
city council decided to adopt a system by which the spring named 
above could better be utilized, so they passed an act in relation 
thereto, but submitted it to the people by ballot. It was carried, and 
the Holly system was selected. The work was completed in January, 
1874. Considerable opposition was manifested by some of the older 
citizens, who did not wish to be taxed for a convenience they could 
use but a short time at best. They thought not of those who were to 
come after them. The cost was about $00,000, and the tax has never 
been felt. There are over 600 service pipes, and the supply is quite 
sufficient for any fire that may occur in the city. Ordinarily enough 
power is furnished by water to supply the demand, but there is a fine 
engine always ready in case of an emergency. In 1873 gas was in- 
troduced into the city, a number of the trenches dug for the water 
mains being used to carry the gas mains as well. 

There are two banks, both of which are on excellent footing: The 
First National Bank was organized in 1865, with a capital stock of 
$50,000, but it has now a capital stock of $400,000. The People's 
National Bank was organized in 1873, with a capital stock of $] 2,000. 
It was originally conducted as a bank of deposit, but shortly afterward 
was reorganized upon its present basis. In 1888 it was designated 
as a depository of the United States. An excellent fire department 
was organized in 1870, the company forming the department 
having an improved Silsby rotary steam engine, which has proven 
itself to be all that is required in Martinsburg to conquer any 
ordinary conflagration, taken in connection with the splendid water 
system. Towns with one good fire company have less fires than towns 
with two and three. This seems to have an illustration not far away. 
The Farmers' & Mechanics' Mutual Insurance Company was organized 



312 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

ill 1877, and competes fairly with any of the larger companies of the 
East. It deserves home patronage, for its standing financially can be 
known to all. There are several building and loan associations, all of 
wliich are doing much good to the poorer and houseless worker. 

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad has its immense shops in Martins- 
burg. Hundreds of families have subsisted for years on the earnings 
supplied by work of this great system. The numbers of trains pass- 
ing this point daily enlivens the old town wonderfully, giving it the 
appearance more of a city of 50,000 than 8,000 population. The 
Cumberland Valley extension of the great Pennsylvania system has 
been running to Martinsburg for many years, but during the present 
year (1889) a still further extension has been completed to Winches- 
ter, which furnishes the town with a direct north, south, east, and 
west road, two of the directions controlled by the Baltimore & Oliio 
and two by the Pennsylvania — two of the most powerful antl at the 
same time antagonistic systems of the country. The latter fact 
insures competition, and as per consequence — low rates. Fine turn- 
pikes and other roads traverse the county of Berkeley in every direc- 
tion, thereby affording facilities to the farmer for conveying easily 
his products to the railroads for shipment. 

There are three very excellent newspapers published in Martins- 
burg, one at Gerrardstown, and two or three other religious, semi- 
religious and class papers. The first four wield the influence, and are 
accepted as " the mirrors of the time " of the county. They are all 
well conducted and ably edited, and have better offices and do better 
work than the average country newspaper. The Independent, a strictly 
Republican journal, is edited with marked ability by Mr. J. Nelson 
Wisner, assisted by Mr. U. S. Grant Pitzer; the Statesman, a stanch 
Democratic newspaper, is edited and conducted with enterprise and 
a strict adherence to Jeffersonian principles by Messrs. AVestenhaver 
& Boyer; the Herald, the last to enter the field at the county seat, 
is edited and managed by Mr. John T. Reily, an excellent news- 
paper man of experience and skill not only in the use of his pen 
but of his type and presses; the Herald is Republican. The Ger- 
rardstown Times was started in 1870 by Mr. J. B. Morgan and 
has been ably and carefully conducted and edited; politics, neutral. 
In regard to the ante bellum papers, from the spring of 1798 to 1801, 
the extracts from those papers give sufficient of their history for the 
purposes of this work. 



BERKELEY COUNTY. 313 

Fi'aternities and Societies. — Martinsburg has for almost one hun- 
dred years been foremost in Masonic and other fraternal and social 
orders. As far back as 1812, Masonic notices are found in the old 
newspapers, and there was doubtless a lodge here during the Revolu- 
tionary period, for Gen. Adam Stephen, Gen. Darke, Gen. Gates, Sam- 
uel Washington, Thomas Bryan Martin, the Colstons and other prom- 
inent men were Masons. Winchester had a lodge in 1769, and there 
can be but little doubt that there was a lodge established here soon 
afterward. At present the fraternity is represented by symbolic, cap- 
itular, cryptic, martial and appendant Masonry, and the ranks are filled 
up by the best citizens. 

Equality Lodge No. 44, A. F. & A. M., is the oldest organization 
in Martinsburg. Just when the charter was granted can not now be 
given. They have one of the finest halls in the State, and their mem- 
bership is about 100. 

Robert White Lodge No. 67, A. F. & A. M., was instituted in 
1875. They meet in Grantham hall. 

Berkeley Consistory No. 21, A. S. R., meets in Equality Lodge No. 
44, the third Tuesday in each month. 

Lebanon Royal Arch Chapter No. 2, was instituted by dispensation 
in 1847. The name was originalfy Mount Horeb, and the number 17, 
which was changed the year following the institution by dispensation. 

Palestine Commandery No. 2, Knights Templar, was granted a dis- 
pensation in 1850. The regular conclaves are held on the first Mon- 
day night of each mouth, in Grantham hall. 

Tuscarora Lodge No. 24, I. O. O. F., came into existence through 
the lapsing of Maffitt Lodge No. 21, which was organized sometime 
about 1840 or 1842. Another lodge, Marengo No. 109, sprang into 
existence also, shortly after the organization of Tuscarora, and they 
both acted under Virginia Grand Lodge charters till 1861, when the 
members became scattered and everything lost that belonged to the 
lodge. In 1865 Tuscarora was revived and received its present num- 
ber. 

Washington Lodge No. 1, K. of P., meets every Thursday night 
in People's Bank Building. 

Horeb Encampment No. 12, I. O. O. F., meets in Tuscarora Lodge, 
second and fourth Tuesday nights of each month. 

Lincoln Post No. 1, G. A. R., meets in their hall corner Queen and 
Burk Streets, Thursday evenings. 



314 HISTORY OF THE LOWEE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Valley Lod^e K. of H., meets second and fourth Friday of each 
month. 

Bethany Lodge No. 7, D. of E., have quite a numerous lodge and 
in good working order. 

Prosperity Lodge No. 29, L O. G. T., meets Monday evenings. 

Franklin Assembly K. of L. meets. Saturday nights in G. A. K. 
hall. 

Key Council, Royal Arcanum, meet first and third Friday nights 
in the G. A. R. Hall. 

Local Branch, No. 29, O. I. H., meets second and fourth Thursday 
nights in K. of H. Hall. 

Berkeley Lodge, Order of Tonti, meets first and third Thursday 
nights in K. of P. Hall. 

Federal Lodge, No. 152, K. of W. meets second Tuesday in each 
month, in Peoples' Bank Building. 

Mount Pisgah Lodge No. 3, A. Y. M., meets Thursday nights 
on South College Street. 

There are two more than ordinarily good bands in Martinsburg, 
one of which has no equal outside of the larger cities, and very few 
equal in those same cities. 

In the country districts there are five granges of P. of H. : Pomona 
Grange, located in Martinsburg; Cherry Grove Grange, in Opequon 
District; Tuscarora Grange, in Hedgesville; Swan Pond Grange, in 
Opequon, and Mill Creek Grange, in Gerrardstown District. 

Towns and Villages. — Gerrardstown is next to Martinsburg in 
size and importance in Berkeley County. It was established by a 
Baptist minister named David Gerrard, who came to this section at 
an early day. He laid it off in 1787 into one hundred equal lots, and 
William Henshaw, James Haw, John Gray, Gilbert McKewen, and 
Robert Allen were appointed trustees of the village. It has a popula- 
tion of about 260, and is situated on Mill Creek not far from the 
North Mountain, eleven miles southwest of Martinsburg. It is an 
old settlement and there were very good business houses — stores — at 
the beginning of this century, and they had the enterprise to advertise 
their wares in the newspaper published at the county seat in 1810 and 
before. There are at present four stores and a number of other en- 
terprises, including a tannery. Four churches furnish spiritual food 
for the citizens: Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist Episcopal, and 
Methodist Episcopal South. There are two fine schools, one primary 



BEKKELEY COUNTY. 315 

aud one of a higher grade. The town was at first called Micjdletown, 
but in consequence of there being another Middletown in Frederick 
County not far off, the name was abandoned for its present title. 

Darkesville, named in honor of Gen. William Darke, the gallant 
Revolutionary soldier, who was one of the magistrates of Berkeley 
County, is situated near the junction of the Winchester and Martins- 
burg turnpike with Mill Creek. It has never made much headway, 
but it is possible that the completion of the new railroad will give it 
an onward impulse. It is surrounded by finely cultivated farms. It 
was sometimes called Bucklestown, after Gen. Buckles, who resided 
there. 

Hedgesville is one of the oldest settlements in the valley of Vir- 
ginia, for the name Hedges in a matter of several land transfers in 
Frederick County occurs as early as 1743. The original Hedges in 
these parts came, undoubtedly, with the first tide of emigration, and 
have always been among the leading citizens of the county. One of 
the oldest church buildings in the valley is claimed by Hedgesville, 
and although the town was not formally established till 1830, or 
thereabouts, there has been a settlement there for over 125 years. It 
is located in a gap of the North Mountain, seven miles north by 
west of Martinsburg and a mile from the Baltimore & Ohio station, 
known as North Mountain Station. 

Ganotown, originally called Jamestown, is, also, an old settlement, 
as an advertisement of a store or two in in that place occurs in the 
Martinsburg Gazette at the beginning of this century. Just when it 
became to be known distinctively as a village doth not appear. 
There is in the hamlet a very pretty and comfortable Methodist church. 

Bunker Hill although not containing much population made, or 
rather had made, a history for itself during the Civil war that has 
given it almost as much notoriety as its Boston namesake. It is on, 
or near, or both, the turnpike where Mill Creek strikes that thorough- 
fare. There is one of the oldest churches in the valley at this point, 
or rather the site of the old church, for the original passed away 
nearly 100 years ago. The old one was an Episcopalian chapel, where 
the present one now stands, and there is, also, a Methodist Church. 

Shanghai is the euphonious title of a village situated one mile 
west of Back Creek. In addition to a number of minor business en- 
terprises, there is a stock company known as the Shanghai Manu- 
facturing Association, which manufactures lumber, grinds bark, pre- 



316 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

pares sumac, etc. They have a Presbyterian Church and a public 
school. 

Falling Waters gained quite a reputation during the late war, it 
being a principal crossing for the armies. It claims to have had 
one of the earliest churches in the valley. It is quite a thriving little 
station on the Cumberland Valley Extension Railroad. Among the 
series of appalling disasters in May, 1889, Falling Waters can claim 
its place. One of the most terrific storms of wind and rain struck 
that locality, and literally swept everything before it. One life was 
lost and several persons injured. Through a piece of timber the resist- 
less cyclone cut a swath as clean as a scythe would in the wheat-field, and 
where it struck the Potomac it lifted the waters upward and before it 
till the rocks at the bottom were plainly visible. Consternation 
prevailed for some time in the little settlement and much suffering 
has been caused by the awful visitation. 

There are a number of other small villages, such as Bedington, on 
the Cumberland Valley Railroad, a noted place of resort during the 
summer season ; Jones Spring, west of Back Creek, which has a 
United Brethren in Christ Church, a store or two and a blacksmith 
and wagon shop; Little Georgetown, greatly in favor as a fine point 
for piscatorial sports, on the glorious Potomac, and containing a 
school and all other accompaniments of comfort and civilization; 
Tomahawk, south of Hedgesville; North Mountain, a station on the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; Soho, twelve or fifteen miles northwest 
of Martinsburg; Glengary, about fifteen miles southwest of the 
county-seat, and several others, too numerous and too diminutive 
to mention. 

Two events of much local importance occurred, the one in May 
and the other about two weeks afterward, in Martinsburg, in 1889. 
The first was the terrific rainfall of May, when on the fateful Friday 
the city of Johnstown, Penn., was almost wiped out of existence by the 
bursting of a reservoir. On this same Friday night the Tuscarora 
Creek, which passes through Martinsburg, became so swollen as to 
overflow its banks. It swept away almost all the bridges in the lower 
portion of the county, and inundated hundreds of fields and gardens, 
destroying the growing crops. In the town several residences were 
almost ruined, and thousands of dollars worth of timber and other 
movable stuff, fences, outhouses and farming implements in course 
of construction at a factory, were carried away or rendered worthless 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 317 

or useless for their original purpose. The second calamity, about 
two weeks after the first, Avas a terrific hailstorm, pronounced by old 
residents the severest known to them. A great deal of wheat, corn 
and vegetables were literally cut to pieces or ruined otherwise. 
Thousands of dollars were again lost by this second visitation of the 
enraged elements. 

A number of other matters more nearly connected with the war 
period, in regard to Martinsburg and Berkeley County, will be found 
in the closing chapters of tliis work, wherein the Civil war is treated 
upon separately. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

SOME EARLY SETTLERS OF JEFFERSON. 

Before the Creation of Jefferson County— Standing of Her Early Set- 
tlers—Leading Names— The Washingtons— The Rutherfords— The 
Morgans- The Swearingens— The Hites, Bedingers. Lucases, Shep- 
herds, Briscoes, Smiths, Porterfields, Davenports, Masons, Lemons, 
Lees, Baylors, and Others— First Settlement in the Valley— The 
Old Packhorse Ford— The Great Indian Highway— The Beautiful 
Potomac— The Germans— Date of Their Arrival— Splendor of Scen- 
ery—The East Virginia Settlers— The Cavalier Stock—" Courage, 
Courtesy, and Hospitality"— Why the Jeffersonians Make Good 
Soldiers— The Famous "Morgan Spring" Company— Captain Hugh 
Stephenson— Description of the Company and its Start— Interest- 
ing New Facts About Generals Lee, Gates and Stephen— Their 
Residences— Gates' Letter— Some Errors Corrected— Was Lee a 
Traitor?— Was Charles Lee the Author of the "Junius" Let- 
ters ?— Remarkable Coincidence. 

ALTHOUGH about seventy-five years had elapsed from the date 
of the first settlement of the lower portion of the great valley of 
Virginia, and although that first settlement was made within her pres- 
ent limits, yet the county of Jefferson had no existence by name un- 
til the year 1801. First being a portion of the indefinite outskirts of 
one of the eastern Virginia counties, then, in 1720, claimed as a part 
of Spottsylvania, and held as such till 1734, when Orange County 
was created; continued as such till 1738, when Frederick was cut 
-off from Orange; remaining with the latter county till 1772, when 



318 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Frederick was divided into three parts: Diiumore (Shenandoah), War- 
ren, and a portion of Page, being the southern third ; Frederick and 
Clarke the central, and Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan, the lower, or 
northern division, being known respectively as Shenandoah, Frederick 
and Berkeley Counties. In 1801, however, the population had so in- 
creased, and the distances had grown so long, in consequence of the 
improved and improving ideas of comfort and convenience, prompted 
by the march of civilization, that application was made to the General 
Assembly of the commonwealth for the cutting off and erecting another 
county out of the plentiful substance of Berkeley, which reasonable de- 
sire was accorded, and the fledgeling was launched forth and named 
Jefferson, in honor of the illustrious statesman who was then president 
of the great republic, in whose behoof he had done so much. 

Yet notwithstanding the fact of the late creation of Jefferson 
County, distinctively as such, she had, from the very first entrance of 
the white man into the Valley, her full proportion of the intellect and' 
courage of the early settlers. Among her citizens were some of the 
most noted men of their day. The first sheriff, appointed in 1743, at 
the first session of the first court ever held in the valley of Virginia, 
or west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, for that matter, was Thomas 
Rutherford, the father of Robert Rutherford, who represented this dis- 
trict in Congress several times, who was a resident of what is now Jef- 
ferson County. Two or three of the leading justices of the first com- 
mission of the peace were from this section, and the ancestors of many 
of those who became famous in the various branches of the profes- 
sions and in war resided in the northern third of the vast county of 
Frederick. Here originated the numerous families of Washingtons, 
the Morgans, the Swearingens, the Lucases, the Bedingers, the Shep- 
herds, the Davenports, the Porterfields, the Baylors, the Moores, the 
Lees, the Hunters, the Whites, the Masons, the Helms, one branch of 
the Hites, the Lemons, the Mercers, the Briscoes, the Rutherfords, 
the Smiths, the Worth ingtons, and numbers of other prominent fami- 
lies. Here also resided atone time five generals of the Revolutionary 
army: Charles Lee, Horatio Gates, William Darke, Adam Stephen and 
Robert Buckles. And greater than all these, was an humble resident 
of Shepherdstown, James Rumsey, the undoubted inventor of the steam- 
boat, as will be shown conclusively in another chapter of this work. 

Jefferson County has the honor, beyond all peradventure, of being 
the seat of the first settlements of the white man in the great valley 



JEFFEESON COUNTY. 319 

stretching its fertile hills and dales from the Potomac southward for 
over one hundred miles. Undoubtedly the first white man who built 
a cabin south of the Potomac, did so upon the spot where now stands 
the ancient and pleasant little village of Shepherdstown. In addition 
to the existence of grants still preserved in several families, dating 
back to as far as 1729, the fact is apparent for many reasons that 
here were the first settlements. At the date named, and for many 
years thereafter, the old ford about a mile below Shepherdstown, 
known a hundred years ago as the "Old Packhorse Ford," was the 
only crossing of the Potomac River for many miles east and west of it. 
Ferries there were none, and, of course, no bridges; and persons 
seeking the valley country were compelled to cross at the old ford. 
Now, all emigration to this section came down through Pennsylvania 
and Maryland, and that being the case they landed on the Virginia 
side, near the famous spot where the Corn Exchange regiment was so 
badly used up on the morning of the 19th of September, 1862. Sup- 
posing those emigrants from Pennsylvania to be in search of lands 
whereon to settle, and supposing the lands of the valley from the 
Potomac to what is now the upper line of Shenandoah County to have 
been open to settlement, but not a settler upon them, what would be 
the result? Would it not be entirely natural for them to seize upon 
the beautiful land that lay before them, rather than go thirty-five 
miles farther south, to poorer land, and into the heart of the Indian 
settlements? Yet, this latter supposition was advanced many years 
ago, and has become the accepted view of the matter. Why a settler 
of the period spoken of should, after a long journey in search of a 
spot upon which to build his cabin and make a home, pass over as 
good land as there is on the surface of the earth, is a mystery. But 
it never happened that way. Here was a beautiful river with a stretch 
of placid stream extending several miles with scarcely a ripple, filled 
with fine fish, and the scenery along its banks grand and lovely 
beyond description; numbers of excellent springs, with timber and 
the best building stone in abundance. And the ford itself was 
sufi&cient inducement to settle near it, for in case of Indian incursions 
it offered a means of escape into the settlements over in Pennsylvania. 
Oh, no ; the pioneer of the great valley of Virginia did not settle five 
miles south of where now stands Winchester: he knew better. The 
first white persons who entered the gateway at Shepherdstown after 
the knightly Spottswood and his company of gay cavaliers and 



320 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

retainers rode to the apex of Swift Eun Gap in 1716, and drank in 
the ^raud scene that opened upon their astonished gaze, were Ger- 
mans from Pennsylvania: thrifty husbandmen, skilled workmen in 
the various trades, hardy and industrious. They built them a village 
and called it New Mecklenburg, in honor of, possibly, their native 
city in Vaiei'land, and their names are here to-day, some of the 
representatives having filled in years past the most prominent posi- 
tions within the gift of their fellow-citizens, whilst at the present 
time many are filling with ability various responsible positions in 
public and private life. 

And the old ford itself, that was the means of inducing or securing 
settlements near it, deserves a passing notice. Very few persons 
realize the importance, or appreciate the great utility, that this natural 
highway has proven in the past, before the days of ferries and bridges. 
How long it has been used is a matter of conjecture. It was the 
"bridge," so to speak, upon the great Indian highway running north 
and south, and along its path what thousands upon thousands of the 
aborigines must have passed! Here, at this old ford, on both sides 
of the river, have occurrred some of the bloodiest battles between 
hostile tribes, as the number of arrow-heads and other Indian relics 
attest. Here, too, doubtless marched the myriads of warriors of that 
mysterious race which has left not a trace of its language or history — 
whose antiquity is so great as to constitute them a lost race in reality, 
far more efPectually lost than the Assyrian or Babylonian, for they 
have left monuments and inscriptions — the Mound Builders. Along 
this ford, in all probability, rushed the great foe of the Indian, as he 
pushed him back to the Atlantic, where he, the Indian, reaching his 
last resort, in turn rallied and drove his conqueror westward. The 
feet of human beings who lived thousands of years ago doubtless trod 
our humble ford, as well as the gallant boys in gray and blue from 
1861 to 1865. 

The date of the arrival of these German pioneers of the Valley 
has been variously put. There is nothing of record, so far as is known, 
by which the exact time may be ascertained, but it is evident that 
they were here some time before 1730, As early as 1725 has been 
surmised, but 1727, or thereabout, is more likely to have been the 
date. That they came before 1729 is pretty surely known, for in that 
year a number of grants were issvied by Gov. Gooch, and had the 
settlers come in after these grants were issued, they would, doubt- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 321 

less, have gone a little farther along, where land was apparently 
free. But they were " squatters," afterward buying from Richard 
Morgan and Thomas Shepherd, one of whom had an original grant. 
These grants are not recorded in the Valley, and are, therefore, not 
easy of access. There was no organized government west of the Blue 
Mountains, as they were originally called, and no court nearer than 
Spottsylvania Court-house, and this fact of course, accounts for any 
lack of knowledge in regard to these early settlers, by means of 
records. 

The country entered by these enterprising people was found to be 
a land of milk and honey, and they prospered accordingly. The 
scenery was magnificent, and those who stretched out toward the 

i Great Falls, now known as Harper's Ferry, were no doubt amazed at 
the splendor of the mountains and the rivers. With one grand river 
flowing the entire length of the section on the north, and another large 
river and a chain of lofty mountains on the east, what more could be 
desired after the fertility of the soil was ascertained, and the health - 
fulness and salubrity of the climate became assured ? At that early 
day and to the present time, Jefferson County has had no superior for 
richness of soil and desirability as a home. 

In addition to the settlers who came down through Pennsylvania 

■and Maryland to Jefferson County, and located along the Potomac 

/ Kiver from Harper's Ferry (or as it was then known, the Great Falls), 

/westward on that stream, there was a tide of immigation from Eastern 

( Virginia. Numbers of the old families, descended from the gentry 
who came over from the mother country early in the seventeenth cen- 
tury — people of mark and standing — sold out their property in the poor 
lands of the tide-water region, and obtained large tracts of land from 
Lord Fairfax, in some cases at merely nominal prices. This influx of 
some of the best material in the Old Dominion: the cavalier stock who 
were always true to " King and Merrie England " in the days of 
the unhappy Charles, and when loyalty was better than straightlaced 
Cromwellism, but who, when America raised the standard of inde- 
pendence, were first to flock to the banner of liberty, and first to lay 
down their " lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor " in that 
cause; these gently-nurtured settlers, who left, in most cases, luxu- 
rious homes " across the Ridge " to begin again the founding of a new 
State, as it were, have impressed upon their descendants, traits that 
obtain to this day, in as full force as they did one hundred and fifty 



322 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

years ago. " Courage, courtesy and hospitality," those triune virtues 
of the age of chivalry, is not a myth in old Jefiferson. The number 
of soldiers furnished in the Revolution of 1776, and the conspicuous 
gallantry and ability of the officers and men alike is known to all. 
And in the Civil war, Jefferson was famous for her hard-riding troop- 
ers — the dash of her splendid cavalry, and the endurance, the patience 
and the self-sacrificing spirit of all classes alike. Numbers of her 
leaders, many of whom still survive, have had no superiors and few 
peers in any army, ancient or modern. Some of those gray-haired 
veterans may be seen daily, riding into the towns as erect on their 
horses as ever, and some may be seen attending to the avocations of 
civil life, with as much nonchalance as though they had never heard 
of war, or were not immortalized in the histories of their country. 

. This immigration from Eastern Virginia began about 1760, many fam- 
ilies coming before that time. Lawrence AVashington, as shown by 
the records of 1743 to 1750, purchased from Fairfax a large number 
of tracts of land, and from other parties as well. He did not reside 
in the Valley, but it laid the foundation for the various branches of 
the Washington family, x Samuel Washington and Charles Washing- 
ton, brothers of the illustrious general, moved to Jefferson, or rather 
to Frederick County. Samuel was a conspicuous member of the court 
of justices, lieutenant of the county, and lieutenant-colonel of the 
militia; also one of the first justices of the peace at the organization 
of the county of Berkeley. Charles was the founder of Charlestown 
and a liberal-hearted citizen. 

By the opening of hostilities in 1775 Jefferson had increased con- 
siderably in population, almost entirely from east of the Blue Ridge 
Mountains, and after the struggle was over in 1781, a still greater 

' tide of settlers came in from the same section, the rich lands of this 
county being the predominating inducement. In the very early years 
after the creation of Frederick county (1743) comparatively few had 
come from across the mountains, as there were no good roads, none 
in reality save narrow trails, impassable except to the Indian and the 
hunter, and this was the leading reason, doubtless, that operated in 
this instance against the popular theory that " westward the star of 
empire takes its way." The tide from the north, principally Germans 
and Irish, after a few years went further south : to localities beyond 
Winchester, to what is now Shenandoah, and still farther along. In 
this second tide went the wealthy and enterprising German, Jost Hite,^ 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 323 

with his three sons-in-law, Bowman, Chrisman and Froman, and a 
number of other families, who settled about five to ten miles above 
Winchester on the Opequon and Cedar Creek, and whose descendants 
are still to be found near where their ancestors located about 1732-33. 
Considerable having already been said in another portion of this work 
about the early settlers of this section, the foregoing is deemed suf- 
ficient. 

In another portion of this work some account has been given of 
the soldiers of the Valley in the Revolution: the promptitude with 
which they sprang from civil life into soldiers of daring, and the gal- 
lant manner in which they demeaned themselves on all occasions. 
Morgan and his riflemen have been, as far as the Avriter is able, ac- 
corded the praise so justly due that extraordinary general, and from 
an eye-witness, almost, have been given descriptions of the company 
he started with from Winchester, encamping the first night at a spring 
near Shepherd st own. There were two companies that went from the 
Valley to Boston to the army of Washington, and some pleasant con- 
troversy has been indulged in by the adherents of each as to which 
company started first, and which reached the seat of war first. In this 
laudable and good-natured contest as to whose ancestors is due the 
meed of praise for first springing to arms in defense of the general 
weal, and of first endeavoring to fling out the banner of liberty in the 
common cause, there have been brought forward proof s upon both sides. 
Frederick County claims that Daniel Morgan started first and landed 
in the camp of Washington first. Berkeley and Jefferson (at the time, 
one county), claims that Hugh Stephenson started and landed first 
with his company. But to narrow it down, Winchester and Shep- 
herdstown are the particular localities where there is more heard from 
the advocates of the two heroes, for Martinsburg and Charlestown 
were small villages in 1775 as compared to the towns named. The 
Winchester case has been stated, and it would be rank injustice to 
withhold, the Shepherdstown plea, especially as the latter seems to 
have certain points of evidence that are extremely conclusive. 

On the 2d of September, 1858, a grand "civic and military 
barbeque" was held at Morgan's Spring, and numerous speeches were 
delivered. The opening address was made by Hon. Alex. E. Boteler, 
who greeted the assembly with such words of welcome as friendship 
prompts and courtesy demands. He was followed by Hon. Charles 
James Faulkner, in an eloquent oration, after which Hon. Andrew 

20 



324 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Hunter delighted the crowd with an impromptu intellectual treat, 
"which was so highly appetizing," says our informant, that when he 
concluded he left his listeners, like Oliver Twist, asking for "more." 
The oratorical abilities of the three distinguished gentlemen named 
are so well known that mere ordinary praise falls flat. Two of them 
have passed to their reward, and the third, now far advanced in life, 
stands a representative of the old regime, a gentleman of the old 
school, a compeer of the great men of his time, and one whose char- 
acter is, and always has been, sans reproche. From a little pamphlet 
written by and printed for Col. Boteler, more for private than public 
circulation, in 1860, entitled, "My Kide to the Barbecue," the writer 
has been permitted to make the following extracts, which are so inter- 
esting and cover the points intended so nicely that further "defence" 
of the Jefferson County company could not be desired: 

"It seems that when the momentous drama of the Revolution was 
about to begin, and the heart of Virginia was throbbing in responsive 
unison with the eloquence of Patrick Henry, whose memorable words, 
'We must jigM — I repeat it, sir, we must fight!' leaped like 'live 
thunder' through the land, nowhere within the borders of the good 
old commouAvealth was there a more prompt and determined response 
to the fervid appeal of the 'forest-born Demosthenes' than the patri- 
otic citizens of Shepherdstown and its vicinity, where a company of 
riflemen, consisting of more than a hundred men, was immediately 
raised 'for the protection of American liberty.' The officers of this 
celebrated corps were: Hugh Stephenson, captain; Abraham Shep- 
herd, first lieutenant; Pendleton, second lieutenant, and 

Scott, third lieutenant; William Pyle was appointed ensign and 
Henry Bedinger sergeant. Their banner was emblazoned with the 
device of the ' Culpepper minute men ' — a coiled rattlesnake ready to 
strike, and the significant motto, 'DonH tr^ead on me.' For their 
uniform, they adopted home-spun hunting-shirts, made of tow linen 
(fringed around the neck and down the front), leather leggings and 
moccasins. Each wore a buck tail in his hat, and had a tomahawk 
and scalping-knife in his belt. 

" Thus organized and equipped, these gallant men held themselves 
in readiness to march at a minute's notice, and wherever their serv- 
ices might be required to defend the rights of the colonies from the 
encroachments of the British Crown. Accordingly when on the 14th 
of June, 1775, the Continental Congress resolved ' That two compa- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 325 

uies of expert riflemen be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in 
Maryland, and two in Virginia, and that each company, as soon as 
completed, shall march 6,nd join the army near Boston,' the Shep- 
herdstown riflemen obeyed the summons with alacrity, and their's was 
theirs/ company from the South that rallied by the side of Washing- 
ton when Boston was beleagured. 

" The 17th of July, 1775, was the day set for their departure, and 
Morgan's Spring was their rendezvous. True to their appointment, 
they all met there on the morning designated: not a man was missing. 
Having partaken of a frugal meal, they arose from the grass and rev- 
erently received the blessing which a holy man of God invoked in 
their behalf, after which, solemnly agreeing together that as many of 
them as might be alive on that day fifty years should meet again at 
Morgan's Spring,* they shouldered their rifles and forthwith began 
their march, ' making,' as one of them expressed it, ' a bee-line for Bos- 
ton,' which they reached on the 10th of August, having made the 
journey of 600 miles in twenty-four days. 

"As they approached the camp of Cambridge, Washington, who was 
making a reconnoissance in the neighborhood, descrying the Virginians 
in the distance, galloped up to meet them, and when Capt. Stephen- 
son, saluting him, reported his company ' from the right bank of the 
Potomac,' the commander-in-chief, unable to resist the impulse, sprang 
from his horse, and beginning with the captain, went from man to 
man, shaking hands with each, tears of joy rolling down his cheeks as 
he recognized his friends and fellow-soldiers from the South. 

"Morgan's riflemen reached the camp a day or two after Stephen- 
son, and Cresap's company from western Maryland, arrived a few days 
after Morgan. 

"An accurate idea of the men who were mustered in these three 
rifle companies may be had from the following extract of a letter to a 
gentleman in Philadelphia, dated Fredericktown, Maryland, August 
1st, 1775. [Vide Am. Archives, Vol. 3d, 1775, page 1, 2.] 

" ' Notwithstanding the urgency of my business, I have been de- 
tained three days in this place by an occurrence truly agreeable. I 
have had the happiness of seeing Captain Michael Cresap marching at 
the head of a formidable company of upward of one hundred and 
thirty men from the mountains and backwoods, painted like Indians, 

*0n the 17tli of July, 1825, there were but four of the riflemen living, viz. : Maj. Heni-y Bedinger, 
of Berkeley County; his brother, Michael Bedinger, of Blue Lick, Ky.; Peter Lauck, of Winchester > 
Va., and Hulse, of WheeUng, W. Va. 



326 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

armed with tomahawks and rifles, dressed in hunting-shirts and mocca- 
sins; and though some of them had traveled hundreds of miles from 
the banks of the Ohio, they seemed to walk light and easy, and not 
with less spirit than at the first hour of their march. 

" ' Health and vigor, after what they had undergone, declared 
them to l)e intimate with hardship and familiar with danger. Joy 
and satisfaction were visible in the crowd that met them. Had Lord 
North been present, and been assured that the brave leader could raise 
thousands of such-like to defend their country, what think you — 
would not the hatchet and the block have intruded upon his mind? 

" 'I had an opportunity of attending the Captain during his stay 
in town, and watched the behavior of his men, and the manner in 
which he treated them ; for it seems that all who go out to war under 
him, do not only pay the most willing obedience to him as their com- 
mander, but in every instance of distress, look up to him as their 
friend or father. A great part of his time was spent in listening to 
and relieving their wants, without any apparent sense of fatigue or 
trouble. When complaints were before him, he determined with kind- 
ness and spirit, and on every occasion condescended to please without 
loosing dignity. Yesterday (July 31st, 1775) the company were sup- 
plied with a small quantity of powder from the magazine, which 
wanted airing and was not in good order for rifles; in the evening, 
however, they were drawn out to show the gentlemen of the town their 
dexterity at shooting. A clap-board with a mark the size of a dollar 
was put up; they began to fire off-hand, and the by-standers were 
surprised, few shots being made that were not close or into the paper. 
When they had shot for some time in this way, some lay on their backs, 
some on their breasts or sides, others ran twenty or thirty steps, and 
firing as they ran, appeared to be equally certain of the mark. With 
this performance the company were more than satisfied, when a young 
man took up the board in his hand, not by the end, but by the side, 
and holding it up, his brother walked to the distance and coolly shot 
into the white; laying down his rifle, he took the board, and holding 
it as it was held before, the second brother shot as the former had 
done. By this exhibition I was more astonished than pleased. But 
will you believe me when I tell you that one of the men took the 
board, and placing it between his legs, stood with his back to the tree 
while another drove the center? 

" 'What would a regular army of considerable strength in the for- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 327 

ests of America do with one thousand of these men, who want nothing 
to preserve their health and courage but water from the spring, with 
a little parched corn (with what they can easily procure in hunting), 
and who, wrapped in their blankets at the dead of night, would choose 
the shade of a tree for their covering and the earth for their bed.' " 

In one of the chapters of this Avork, more especially bearing upon 
Berkeley County prior to the division, are incorporated sketches of 
the three prominent and unfortunate generals, who resided, all of them, 
in that portion of the county now comprised in Jefferson, but the fol- 
lowing additional facts in regard to those worthies, written by the 
same talented gentleman who furnished the editor of this work with 
the preceding account of the famous company, is so readably prepared 
and embraces so many new ideas, that it is given a place here with 
pleasure. It also touches upon several other interesting points, so 
lucidly and freshly, that the extracts will be still further appreciated 
on that account. The writer was on his way to the barbecue, as above 
stated, and says: 

"We halted a few minutes at Charlestown, named after Washing- 
ton's youngest brother, Charles, on whose land it was laid out, and 
who is said greatly to have resembled the general in the dignity of 
his appearance as well as in his disposition and character. Resuming 
our seats we turned our horses toward Leetown, and resisting the 
temptation to stop and examine the picturesque ruins of an ancient 
church which we noticed near the road, and which is said to have been 
erected in the reign of George II., Ave drove slowly past Harewood — 
that fine old place of pleasant memories and patriotic associations, 
where Washington's brother Samuel dwelt, where James Madison was 
married, and where Louis Philippe and his two brothers, the Duke 
de Montpensier and Count Beaujolais, with their faithful servant 
Beaudouin, were entertained — a time -hallowed stone mansion, moss- 
grown and gray, with its black marble mantels, the gift of La Fayette, 
and its hall hung with a quaint collection of family portraits, amongst 
which is that of its original proprietor surrounded by those of his 
five sons. The house having been planned and built under the per- 
sonal superintendence of Gen. Washington himself has, fortunately, 
been preserved from the desecration of whitewash and stucco, and we 
trust will continue to be guarded with jealous care from the senseless 
vandalism which has no regard for the recollections of our history, 
and which is ever ready to tear down or disfigure the venerable monu- 
ments built by the strong hands of our fathers. 



328 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

"Soon afterward we found ourselves in front of the former resi- 
dence of Gen. Charles Lee, of Revolutionary notoriety. The house is 
a long, low, quaint-looking building with a high-pitched roof and 
irregularly placed chimneys. It stands a short distance from the turn- 
pike road, and on rising ground, but is so hidden behind a tangled 
copse of neglected shrubbery, that it seems to seclude itself from ob- 
servation with the same pertinacious spirit of misanthropy that char- 
acterized the cynical soldier of fortune who once possessed it. Al- 
though it was built more than one hundred years ago, the solidity of 
its lime-stone walls and the soundness of its timbers give assurance 
that it will last at least another century, if not destroyed by the med- 
dlesome hand of 'modern improvement.' When occupied by Lee, it 
is well known that he allowed no partition to divide its interior; but a 
huge chimney, which rises through the center of the building, served 
in some degree to separate the cooking department from that which 
was made to answer for abed-room, parlor, library, dog-kennel and all. 

" Here he was living, a soured, disappointed man, against whom 
the door of promotion had been closed in his own country when the 
war for independence began in ours, and hither he retired with a 
heart fuller than ever of bitterness and hate after the Continental 
Vx Congress had confirmed the finding of the court martial that satin 
judgment on his conduct at the battle of Monmouth. It certainly 
seems strange that such a man as Lee should have lived, and so lived, 
in this then retired place; that one Avhose attainments were so great, 
whose career had been so eventful, whose ambition was so unsatisfied, 
' who had served in the famous campaigns of Europe, commanded Cos- 
sacks, fought with Turks, talked with Frederick the Great, been an 
officer under the King of Portugal, and aid-de-camp to Pianatowski, 
King of Poland,' should have selected for his abode what was then 
comparatively 'a lodge in some vast wilderness with a boundless con- 
tiguity of shade.' But he was induced to do so by his friend and 
fellow soldier. Gen. Horatio Gates, who resided in the same neighbor- 
hood, upon an estate called Traveler's Rest; and as the letter he wrote 
to Lee persuading him to settle where he did, is both characteristic and 
rare (never having been printed in this country), I here insert it: 

Traveler's Rest, Va., July 1st, 1774. 
" 'My Dear Lee: — I received your welcome letter by Mr. Worm- 
ley, and live in daily expectation of seeing you at my hut. I now wish 
more than ever for that satisfaction; as the alarms of the times make 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 329 

me earnest to consult and converse with you thereupon. Until actions 
convince me of the contrary, I am resolved to think Mr. Gage has 
some secret medicine in his pocket to heal the wounds that threaten 
the life of American liberty. Surely a man so humane, so sensible, so 
honorable, so independent in his circumstances, and so great from fam- 
ily expectations, would never undertake a business fit only for an aban- 
doned desperado, or a monster in human shape, a General Murry, a 
Macro, or a Ravilliac. I cannot think what detains you so far southward 
at this season of the year; without any disparagement to Williamsburg, 
health and such as you like for associates are more certainly to be 
met with to the northward. I know not how you find it, but the older 
I grow, I become less and less inclined to new acquaintances. Selfish- 
ness and sycophancy possess so generally the minds of men, that I 
think the many are best avoided, and the few only who are liberal and 
sincere to be sought for and caressed. I therefore stick steadily to 
the cultivation of my farm, am intimate with few, read when I have 
time, and content myself with such domestic comforts as my circum- 
stances and fortune afiPord me. I wish, therefore, most anxiously, you 
would come to my retreat, and let us philosophize on the vices and 
virtues of this busy world, the follies and the vanities of the great, 
the vulgar, and the small — 

" 'Laugh when we please, be candid when we can, 
And justify the ways of God to man. 

" ' Mrs. Gates is earnest in desiring to see you under her roof, 
where a good bed is provided for you, two or three slaves to supply 
all your wants and whimsies, and space enough about us for you to 
exorcise away all your spleen and gloomy moods, whensoever they dis- 
tress you. 

" ' In my neighborhood there is this moment as fine a farm-mill 
and tract of land to be sold as any in America, and provided it is con- 
venient to you to pay down half the price, I am convinced you may 
have it at a very great bargain. 

" 'It is altogether two thousand four hundred acres, at thirty shil- 
lings sterling an acre; I am satisfied you might have it so. 

" ' By paying down about one thousand eight hundred pounds ster- 
ling, you may be put in possession of an estate that ten years hence 
will be worth seven thousand pounds sterling; and I take it for 
granted that you may have the payment of the rest of the purchase 
money at easy installments, and that, too, without interest; so by lay- 
ing out a thousand pounds sterling more in stocking and improvements, 
your produce will yield you a fine living, and wherewithal to pay your 
annual installments bargained for in the purchase. I suppose you 
have procured from Lord Dunmore his warrant for your five thousand 
acres upon the Ohio; that will be, very soon, of considerable value. 

" ' As to the Indians, the behavior "of certain of the white people 
is, beyond all comparison, abominable toward those unhappy natives. 



330 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Not content with quiet possession of all the land on this side of the 
Ohio, they demand, as a prelimiEary to a peace, all the land between 
that river and the Mississippi; but this story is too long for a letter — 
you shall know the whole of this iniquitous affair when we meet. 

" ' The gentleman who does me the favor to present you this letter 
has the pleasure of your acquaintance, and can fully inform you of the 
exceeding wickedness and absurdity of the measures pursued and being 
pursued against the Indians. 

" ' I have read, with wonder and astonishment, Gage's proclama- 
tions; surely this is not the same man you and I knew so well in the 
days of yore; but that men should change, neither you nor I will be 
surprised at; it is rather matter of amazement when they do not. 

" ' August 17th. — I am this instant returned from Baltimore, and 
hoped to have crossed upon you in your route northward, but, like 
Swift's Mordants, you were vanished. I was sorry for it, as I might 
have prevailed upon you to have tempered your zeal with caution, 
before all such persons as may reasonably be suspected to watch your 
words and actions. AVhere your zeal in the noble cause you mention 
can be exerted to effect, too much caution cannot be shown; but be 
careful how you act, for, be assured, Gage knows you too well, and 
knows you know him too well, not to be glad of any plausible pretense 
to prevent your good services in the public cause. Farewell, my 
friend; remember, I am what I have always professed myself to be, 
and that I am ready to risk my life to preserve the liberties of the 
Western World. 

" ' On this condition would I build my fame, 
And emulate the Greelv or Roman name: 
Think Freedom's rights bought cheaply with my l)l()od. 
And die with pleasure for my country's good. 

" ' While I live, I am, 

" ' Yours unchangeably, 

"'Horatio Gates.'" 

" After the reception of the foregoing letter, Lee lost no time in 
securing the estate it refers to; and having taken possession of it in 
the autumn of 1774, he lived there till the following May, when he 
repaired to Philadelphia, where the Continental Congress was in 
session, and was soon after appointed major-general in the American 
army. 

"From the time of his arrival with Washington on the 2d of July, 
1775, till his suspension from command his history is well known to all. 
It was not until the spring of 1779 that he had an opportunity of visit- 
ing his Virginia plantation; but when he returned to it (as he said, 
' to learn to hoe tobacco — which is the true school to form a consum- 
mate general, a discovery I have lately made'), he remained there Until 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 331 

the fall of 1782, when, although (according to his biographer) he had 
become ' so rusticated that he could have lived in a tub with Diogenes ; ' 
he determined to sell the estate and settle near some seaport town. With 
this view he went to Philadelphia, and took lodgings in the ' Slate Roof 
House,' in which William Penn once resided; but a few days after his 
arrival he was seized with a fever, which caused his death on the 2d of 
October, 1782." 

[Gen. Lee is said to have had a lai'ge number of dogs and was so 
fond of them that he drank his water from the same bucket as his 
canine friends, but the anecdote scarcely accords with his fastidious 
tastes in other matters. His affection for the dumb brutes, and his 
traditionary great care of them is rather an evidence of his kindness 
of heart than otherwise. And the stories of his naming his dogs after 
the Holy Trinity and the Apostles, seem not to be borne out by the 
facts. A man could scarcely be so sacrilegious as to do that and at 
the same time say, as he does in his will, "I most earnestly commend, 
my soul to the great Creator of all worlds and all creatures." He was 
what would be termed to-day "an advanced thinker," not a sceptic, in- 
fidel or atheist, as he ha^ been called. He was not any more "ad- 
vanced," however, than most of the intellectual religionists of this 
latter part of the nineteenth century, for they believe, with Charles 
Lee, that "the Creator is indifferent to the creeds of man," whether 
that man be "Christian, Jew or Mahometan."] — Editor. 

"But yonder is 'Travelers' Rest,'" continues the account from 
which these sketches are gleaned, " a cluster of farm buildings on the 
left hand side of the road, and it reminds me of another incident in 
Lee's life, which, as it happened in the very house to which we are going, 
will be an appropriate introduction to Gates' domicil. 

" It appears that both Gates and his wife, being fond of the pleas- 
ures of the table, were accustomed to linger over their wine and wal- 
nuts, which had the effect, occasionally, of making Mrs. Gates not only 
more loquacious than ladies generally are, but also more disputatious 
than they ever ought to be. When in these moods she sometimes so 
far forgot the proprieties of her sex as to berate her husband, even in 
the presence of company. Such scenes were especially disagreeable 
to General Lee who, in the latter days of his life, had, so little fancy for 
the fair sex, that he would not sleep in a room where any article of 
female attire might happen to be left.* Well, one day after dinner her 

*But his will, printed in another portion of this work, shows that he had a housekeeper, a Mrs. 
Dun, to whom he bequeathed considerable of his personal effects.— Ed. 



4332 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

ladyship was ' lording it over her lord ' a little more Xantippe-like than 
usual, aud in the course of the controversy she appealed to Lee for 
an expression of his opinion as to the position she had assumed. Lee 
hesitated, but, being pressed by the lady for an answer as to his opin- 
ion of her, said, as he took up his hat and a position near the door, 
*■ Then, madam, you shall have it: My candid opinion is that you are a 
tragedy in private life aud a farce to all the world.' So saying he 
silently took his departure. 

" But here we are at the identical door through which the General 
deemed it so prudent to retreat, for the second time in his strange, 
eventful history, from the face of a British grenadier! 

" The house at Traveler's Rest is similar in the general style of 
its architecture to that of Lee's, but better finished. It is substan- 
tially built of cut limestone — a story and a half high, with huge 
chimneys and lofty roof. The windows are numerous and narrow 
(those in the basement looking like port-holes), the casements are 
clumsily constructed, and the glass in them nearly an eighth of an 
inch thick. The interior seems to have undergone but little altera- 
tion since the days of its distinguished occupant. The principal 
apartments are paneled and ornamented with heavy cornices carved 
in the fashion most approved of by our fathers ' when George the 
Third was King.' The crest and monogram of Gates (for he was of 
gentle lineage) are still to be seen, rudely cut with a diamond into 
one of the small window panes. It is the General's initials, sur- 
mounted by a horse's head, rampant on the conventional losenge. 

"Descending the rocky hill on which the house is placed, a parting 
look was cast at the venerable edifice once occupied by the brilliant 
and soldierly Gates — the god-son of Horace Walpole (to whom, 
indeed, some say, 'he stood in filial relationship of a less sanctified 
character'), and the thought came forcibly to our mind, what a small 
event it is sometimes sends a man's name down the corridors of time 
freighted with ignominy — perhaps undeserved. 

"Not having time, it was a matter of regret that we could not pay 
a visit to that other major-general of the Revolution, who, too, stands 
smirched to this day for an offence that time seems constantly endeav- 
oring to make less aud less flagrant. 

"Maj.-Gen. Adam Stephen was a native of Scotland. In 114:0 he 
took the degree of Master of Arts at King's College, Aberdeen. In 
1745 he went to London, and was appointed surgeon's mate on a man- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 333 

of- Avar; but disliking the regular service, came over to Virginia as 
surgeon on a merchantman. Dr. Stephen, returning to England on 
the same vessel upon which he had come out, the Neptune, gave the 
first evidence at this time of the stern stuflP that was in him. When 
in the Channel they were attacked by a French privateer, and were 
on the point of being boarded, when Stephen addressed the officer in 
command and begged the use of four nine-pounders which Avere in 
the cabin, and with the assistance of two young sailors directed the 
guns so effectively that they SAvept the forecastle and bowsprit of the 
enemy, thereby saving the Neptune and her cargo of four hundred 
hogsheads of tobacco. The ancient account says: 'The sailors 
spreading abroad the report of this occurrence' in London, occasioned 
the merchants to take much notice of the Doctor, and he was offered 
the surgeoncy of an East Indiaman, with considerable privileges. 
Not liking a sea-life, however, he declined the offer and came to 
America, landing in Maryland in the spring of 174:8. Shortly after- 
ward he moved to Fredericksburg, and practiced his profession with 
success until the spring of 1754, when, at the solicitation of William 
Fairfax, he agreed to enter the service, and by Mr. Fairfax's direc- 
tions, Col. George Washington called at his house and left him a com- 
mission for the first captaincy,' in consequence of Avhich he forthwith 
repaired to the frontier and raised a company. He was with Wash- 
ington at the battle of Great Meadows, and the following year 
accompanied Braddock on his disastrous expedition, being himself 
wounded in that engagement. On this expedition it is probable that 
his first acquaintance began with Charles Lee and Horatio Gates, the 
former being an officer in the Forty-Fourth Regulars, and the latter a 
captain of an independent company of Royal Americans, and was 
also wounded." 

In addition to the above supplementary facts so kindly furnished 
the editor hereof, the writer has had put into his possession several 
other matters bearing upon the same subject. 

It has ever been the endeaA'or on the part of English writers to be- 
little and even blacken the character of Charles Lee, for the govern- 
ment of the mother country felt the loss of so able an officer when he 
espoused the cause of America. And when he was captured- — ^after the 
scare that Washington gave them, when they threatened to take Lee 
to England and try him for treason, by sending Howe word that 
English officers in his (Washington's) hands would receive the same 



334 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

treatment they visited upon Gen. Lee — the British government at first 
demanded six general officers in exchange for Lee. If he was of so 
little consequence why demand so high a ransom? These remarks are 
suggested by an article printed several years ago in the London Aihe- 
nceum by a George H. Moore, entitled " The Treason of Charles Lee," 
and overflows with venom against that unfortunate soldier. This writer 
says he was a " droll mixture of charlatan and hero," that he was 
" burning with resentment " against England, and other such twaddle. 
Also that the people looked up to him as their leader, and that " had he 
been an American he would have been nominated to the command of the 
army," and that Washington's " most cordial friends mistrusted his 
(Washington's) military capacity." The ideas of this writer do not 
agree with each other, however, for it is a singular state of feeling for 
one to be " burning with resentment " against a country and at the 
same time turn traitor to the country that was honoring him, for the 
benefit of the government he was " burning " against. 

To Charles Lee have, by several investigators, been attributed 
the famous letters of "Junius." It is said that in the fall of 1773, 
Mr. Thomas Rodney was in America in company with Lee, when the 
subject of the authorship of the Junius letters came up. Mr. Rod- 
ney advanced the idea that no one but Lord Chatham could have been 
the author, when Lee with great animation said to his " certain knowl- 
edge 'Lord Chatham was not the author, nor does he know who is; 
that there is not a man in the world, not even Woodfall, who knew ; 
that the secret rested solely with himself, and would remain so." To 
which Mr. Rodney, feeling very much surprised, replied: "General 
Lee if you certainly know what you have affirmed, it can no longer 
remain a secret; no one but the author himself could know what you 
have just affirmed." Recollecting himself, Lee replied, " I have un- 
guardedly committed myself, and it tvonld he folly to deny it to you, 
that I am tlie author; but I must request that you will not reveal it 
during my life; for it never was, and never will be revealed by me to 
any other man." 

It is an extraordinary coincidence that Lee, Gates, and Stephen — 
all born in Great Britain, all captains on this continent in the old 
French war, all with the rash and unfortunate Braddock when he was 
defeated and killed^ all wounded in that famous defeat, all active and 
efficie^it promot^i'g of the cause of the colonists in the morning of the 
Revolution — should, after riaviS^ respectively reached the rank of 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 335 

major-general, have been court-martialed and deprived of their com- 
mands, and finally be found living together on adjacent farms in the 
same locality. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



ORGANIZATION OF JEFFERSON COUNTY. 

The County Court — First Commission of the Peace — Some Noted 
Justices— First Clerk and Sheriff— Applicants for Admission- 
Gen. William Darke— Manumission of Slaves— Taverns— Erection 
OF Public Buildings— Military Appointments— Ferdinando Fair- 
fax—Ministers Licensed— "Jefferson and Cleveland, Persons of 
Honesty and Good Demeanor"— List of All the Justices of the 
County— The Civil War Period— Prompt Patriotism— Shepherds- 
toavn, the county seat— reorganization— restoration of the 
County Seat— Dr. S. J. Cramer— Thomas A. Moore— The Circuit 
Court— Its Able Judges— Richard Parker, Ossawattomie Brown's 
Judge— A Four Years' Hiatus— Kobert T. Broavn, C. C C— Tribute 
TO A Good Man— The Later Judges— Complete List of Sheriffs. 

THE records of Jefferson County, by the forethought of the late 
venerable and popular clerk, Mr. Thomas A. Moore, are, happily, 
intact from the day of the organization of the first, court in 1801 to 
the present time. The thoughtful gentleman named seemed to fore- 
see the vandalism that would ravage Charlestown, and so, wisely, had 
the records all removed to Lexington, where they remained till the 
close of hostilities, when they were brought back to Shepherdstown, 
at which point the seat of justice for Jefferson County was established 
after the war, and where it remained till 1871, when it again took up 
its quarters in Charlestown. The first entry in the first order book of 
the justices reads as follows: 

JefPerson County, Set: 

Be it remembered that at the house of J.ohn Mines (formerly oc- 
cupied by Basil Williamson), in the town of Charlestown, on the tenth 
day of November, 1801, a new commission of the peace from His Ex- 
cellency, James Monroe, Esq., Governor of the Commonwealth of 
Virginia, dated the 26th day of September, 1801, directed to John 
Kearsley, William Little, Joseph Swearingen, Alexander White, John 
Briscoe, William Darke, Richard Baylor, George Hite, George North, 
Daniel Collett, Abraham Davenport, Van Rutherford, John Packett, 



336 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

Daniel Moro^an, Jacob Bedinger and Ferdinando Fairfax, was produced 
to tbe court and read, Whereupon the said William Little, Joseph 
Swearingen, Alexander White, John Briscoe and Richard Baylor, hav- 
ing first taken the oath forgiving appearance of fidelity to this com- 
monwealth, the oath in support of the Constitution of the United 
States, and also the oath of office according to law, which were admin- 
istered to them by John Kearsley, he the said Kearsley then took the 
same oaths, which were administered to him by Joseph Swearingen, and 
the said Kearsley then administered the same oaths to George Hite, 
George North, Daniel Collett, Abraham Davenport, John Packett, 
Daniel Morgan, Jacob Bedinger and Ferdinando Fairfax, who sever- 
ally took the same. Court Proclaimed. 

The wheels of justice now being fairly in motion, William Little 
produced a commission from his excellency, Gov. Monroe, as sheriff of 
Jefferson County, and took the required oaths; also furnished his 
bondsmen, who obligated themselves in the required sum. 

George Hite was appointed clerk of the court, and Ferdinando 
Fairfax and Lawrence A. Washington acknowledged themselves as 
bondsmen for the clerk. 

Cyrus Sanders, Benjamin Stephenson, William Little, Jr., and 
John Sanders were sworn in as deputy sheriffs. 

William R. Lowery was sworn as deputy clerk; John Baker was 
appointed and sworn in as deputy attorney for the commonwealth, 
and William McPherson was recommended as surveyor for the county. 

William McPherson and Joseph Swearingen were appointed com- 
missioners to confer with the commissioners appointed by Berkeley 
County Court to determine the boundary between the two counties. 

At a court held next day, the 11th of November, the following 
attorneys were admitted to practice: William McGuire, Edward 
Christian, Lewis Elsey, Mathew Whiting, John Dixon, Samuel Reed, 
Elisha Boyd, William Tate and Hugh Holmes. 

The following persons were appointed constables: Jacob Long, 
William Shope, John Grantham, Peter Martin and Christian Olliman. 

At the next (December) court, held on the 8th of the month, 
Archibald Magill, one of a noted family of lawyers, there being three 
or four practicing at the same time in Frederick, Berkeley and Jeffer- 
son Counties, was admitted to practice. The Magills were residents 
of Frederick County. 

At this court a very prominent German divine, Freidreich Wilhelm 
Gausinska, appeared before the justices, and having produced a certifi- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 337 

cate of his being a regular minister in the German Lutheran Church 
of Pennsylvania, was authorized by the court to administer the rites 
of matrimony. The reverend gentleman at this time came to take 
charge of the Lutheran Church at Shepherdstown. 

The county was laid off into two districts, for the purpose of speci- 
fying the bounds of the two overseers of the poor who were to be 
selected. 

Gen. William Darke, who had been appointed one of the justices 
of the peace, died at this time. He was a man highly respected by 
all, and although living in the same county with the three other 
generals, Lee, Gates and Stephen, seems to have held himself aloof 
from those three brilliant malcontents. Gen. Darke is represented to 
have been a gentleman of modest demeanor, but a soldier, every inch 
of him. His name may not have flashing about it the doubtful cor- 
ruscatious of supposed genius, but he went down to his grave an 
honored and honorable Revolutionary soldier, with no smirch upon him. 

December 9, 1801. — The records state that a "Mr. Rutherford" 
(evidently meaning Robert Rutherford, the Congressman) appeared 
before the justices and had placed on record the fact of his having 
manumitted three of his slaves, Menta, Joseph and Adam. This is 
the first case of manumission in the county, and is notable for the 
I'eason that it was long before any anti-slavery agitation occurred. It 
is altogether probable that this course (manumission) would have 
been generally pursued, in the border States, at any rate, had not vio- 
lent agitators risen to attempt to force the matter. Some horses may 
be led, but not driven. Numbers of other cases occurred similar to 
that of good, plain old " Robin " Rutherford, whose heart is said to 
have been far out of proportion with his small frame. 

In those early days the justices were sometimes judge, jury, witness 
and executioner. Their sway simply covered almost all matters in 
which the community was interested. They regulated the prices of 
general commodities to a certain extent, and seemed to have special 
care for the keepers of taverns (ordinaries). Here is a list of the 
prices made out and promulgated for the use of the proprietors of or- 
dinaries in 1801: 

For one dinner .f 40 

For one breakfast 28 

For one supper 30 

For one lodging 10 

For one quart Madeira wine 1 25 



338 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

For one quart sherry wine 1 00 

For one quart Lisbon wine 75 

For one quart port wine 75 

For one quart punch 50 

For one quart toddy 25 

For one bottle London porter 50 

For one ejill spirits 12^ 

For one gill French brandy 12^ 

For one gill peach brandy 10 

For one gill apple brandy 6i 

For one gill whisky 6^ 

For one gill bounce 6i 

For one quart beer or cider 8 

Stabling and hay per night. ... 25 

Corn and oats per gallon 12^ 

Pasturage per night 7 

February Court, 1802. — Abraham Morgan was recommended as a 
proper person to be appointed major of the First Battalion, Fifty-fifth 
Regiment, Virginia Militia, in the room of Henry Bedinger, removed. 
Jacob Haines was recommended for captain in same battalion. 

Christian Fouke was recommended as lieutenant in the Fifth Bat- 
talion, also Jacob D. Williamson for a similar position, Azariah Thom- 
burg for a captain, and John Unsell and Conrad Shingler, for ensigns 
in the same battalion. 

Matthew Frame, Thomas Hammond and David Humphrey were 
requested to continue their services as solicitors for subscription to 
the fund for the purpose of erecting public buildings for the accom- 
modation of a court of justice; and also to collect the arrearages due 
from subscribers, and to report progress. 

From this entry in the old records it appears that the public build- 
ings were erected by the voluntary contributions of the citizens of the 
county. 

The first case of crime brought to the notice of the justices was 
that of Peter Lung, who was charged with having " stolen two silver 
dollars," but there was not enough evidence to convict him. The first 
grand jury empaneled was at the March court, 1802: George Wash- 
ington was foreman, Lawrence A. Washington, Leodovick Fry, Eli 
Phelps, Zachariah Buckmaster, Kichard Hardesty, Nicholas Shall, 
Beverly Whiting, John Sheely, John Lemon, Alexander Burnett, 
Samuel Wright, Jacob Moler, James Likens, Jacob Smurr and Samuel 
Reed. 

By December of this year (1802) the public buildings were under 
construction, as the sheriff was ordered to pay to John Young $100 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 341 

out of the depositum in his hands for the purpose of carrying on the 
public buildings of the county. On February 9, 1803, another $100 
was paid to Young. 

About this time a negro belonging to George H. Norris was hung 
for committing an outrage, and his master was paid $333.33 for the 
loss of his slave, which was in accordance with the law then prevailing. 
John and Robert, negroes belonging to Robert Baylor, were convicted 
of stealing a vest and two yards of calico, and sentenced to be "burned 
in the hand and receive twenty lashes," "within the benefit of clergy," 
all "in the presence of the court." 

In February, 1805, an account of the expenditures attending the 
public buildings of the county was inspected by the court and the claim 
was allowed. These first buildings seem to have been only temporary, 
as will be seen farther along. The same court ordered the clerk to 
advertise for "plans and proposals for building a jail of brick or stone, 
with or without a wall enclosing the same, with estimates according 
to each plan." 

Just one year from the time mentioned above, the justices ordered 
that a jail be built of brick, two stories high, with three rooms on the 
first floor, and two above, the building to be "28x24 feet from out to 
out." The contract was to be given out by three commissioners, 
Richard Baylor, Abraham Davenport and Joseph W. Davis. The com- 
missioners were to advertise the letting of the same to the lowest 
bidder, on March 8, next. David Humphrey was appointed to super- ^ 
intend the work, at a salary of $200. Ferdinando Fairfax, one of the 
justices, who is said to have been a man of not only fine attainments, 
but of great foresight and business judgment, dissented from the order 
for the reason that the proposed plan was too small, and insisted that 
it was false economy to so build it, as future expenses in altering and 
enlarging it, which was sure to occur, would greatly increase the cost 
over what it would be to at once build it right. The contract was let 
as proposed, but at the May court following, the ideas of Fairfax were 
adopted, as an addition was ordered as follows: "An addition of 13 
feet in the clear, furnishing rooms for the jailor, to be built uniform 
with the other." 

This Ferdinando Fairfax, who owned and resided upon the Shan- 
nondale estate, was the third son of Bryan Fairfax, who at the death of 
Robert, Lord Fairfax, the seventh lord of that name, became the eighth 
Lord Fairfax. Bryan lived at his seat of Tolston, in Virginia, and 



342 HISTORY or the lower SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

when Robert died he went to England and claimed his right to the 
peerage. He was the last of the tory Fairfaxes, for his son, Ferdi- 
nando, although falling heir to his father's titles as "Lord Fairfax, 
Baron of Cameron," etc., never claimed his undisputed right, con- 
sidering the honor of being an American citizen quite sufficient in 
this free land. Ferdinando inherited his beautiful estate from George 
William Fairfax, of Belvoir, on the Potomac nearly opposite Mount 
Vernon, whose father, William Fairfax, was a cousin of our Lord Fair- 
fax, proprietor of the Northern Neck. George William made provis- 
ion in his will that at the death of his wife the estate should go to 
Ferdinando. He (G. W. F.) was about the same age as Washington, 
and when the illustrious general was about sixteen he and young Fair- 
fax began surveying all this lower Shenandoah Valley, or a great part 
of it at least. 

The next year, February, 1807, Abraham Davenport, Benjamin 
Bell, and David Humphrey, were appointed a committee to ascertain 
what repairs were necessary to be made to make the old jail suitable 
for a clerk's office, and to let the remodeling of the same out to the low- 
est bidder. Also, Richard Baylor, David Humphrey and William H. 
Harding, were appointed a committee to examine the clerk's office then 
used, and report in what condition the records and papers were. 

June Court, 1807. — It was ordered that the county be laid off into 
two districts, to be determined by the " main road from the Loudoun 
line by Keyes' ; thence with Hite's road to Lee and thence with the 
main road by Robert's ford on the Opeckon to the Berkeley line, to be 
called the Northern and Southern districts: that on the Northern side 
to be the Northern District and that on the Southern side the Southern 
District." 

During this year there were a large number of slaves manumitted, 
but the particular cause of it does not appear. The punishment of 
branding, or burning with a hot iron into the hand, seems to have 
been administered nearly as much as whipping at the " public post." 
1808. — Lewis Mayers, of Maryland, of the German Reformed 
Church, was licensed to perform the rites of matrimony. 

1809. — In the county levy the sum of ^200 is appropriated for the 
purpose of making window-shutters above and below, and glazing the 
windows of the court-house; for erecting a " stocks and pillory;" for 
purchasing plain tables and benches for the jury rooms; for making 
stone steps to the court-house and clerk's office, and making " neces- 
sary repairs to ye jail." 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 34B 

1810. — Obed Waite was admitted to practice in Jefferson. The 
previous year to this he had been made clerk of the circuit court 
holden in Martinsburg. He filled the position of clerk till 1824. 
Robert C. Lee and Edward Colston were also admitted to practice 
their profession — the law. Eev. John Price, a Protestant Episcopal 
minister, who had charge of the Episcopal Churches at Charlestown 
and Shepherdstown, and a number of chapels elsewhere, who is said 
to have been the last rector of the old church, now such a picturesque 
ruin near Charlestown, was licensed to administer the rites of matri- 
mony. Rev. Francis Moore, a Baptist minister, was accorded the same 
privilege. 

1811. — Dr. Samuel J. Cramer, William McElroy, Thomas Carson, 
Joseph Creswell and David Gray were naturalized, " they having com- 
plied with the law in taking the several oaths." 

The county was pretty well supplied with taverns at that early 
day, as at one court the following persons were licensed to " keep an 
ordinary " : Henry Gilbert, Henry Garnhart, Casper Walper, Catharine 
"Wiltsheiner, John Conaway, Henry Haines, John Anderson, John G. 
Unseld, Basil Williamson, John James, Christian Fouke, George 
Little, Jacob Alstadt, Curtis Grubb. Owing, possibly, to the existence 
of some of these " ordinary " places the following entry was made on 
the old minute book: "William Rhonomus proved that John Welsh 
bit off his left ear in a fight." 

But liquor selling and liquor drinking, for that matter, was not 
accompanied by the same, if any, stigma that it has attached to it at 
this day, for a few years later than the last date given above, so 
respectable a firm as "Jefferson & Cleveland" dispensed the ardent. 
This firm name appears to a petition to the justices as follows: "Upon 
the petition of Humphreys & Keyes, Robert Keyes & Co., Jefferson & 
Cleveland, William Hooff, John & James Stephenson, David Humph- 
reys, George Humphreys, W. & J. Lane, William F. Lock, Lanes & 
Timberlake, Matthew Frame & Son, Samuel K. White, Maslin & Co., 
J. N. Carter, Weed & Dudley, Michael Garry, William Anderson and 
Ransdell Brown, for permission to sell spirituous liquors by retail, 
the court doth certify that they are persons of honesty, probity and 
good demeanor." 

The first court-house was built about 1808, or at least finished then; 
the second one, almost totally destroyed during the late war, was built, 
or rather finished about 1836; the present handsome and substantial 



344 



HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



structure, on the ruins of the second, was remodeled and finished in 
1871. As showing the increase in population, the tithables of 1808 
and 1819 are given, the first date showing 2,583 and the latter 3,460. 
The following is a complete list of the justices of the peace from 
the organization of the first court: 

1801. 
Richard Baylor, 
George Hite, 
George North, 
Daniel Collett, 
Abraham Davenport, 

1802. 
Jacob H. Manning, 

1803. 
Joseph W. Davis. 

1806. 
Jacob D. Williamson, 
Jesse Moore, 
Gershom Keyes, 

1809. 
Carver Willis, 
Matthew Ransone, 

1811. 
Samuel J. Cramer, 

1815. 
Edmund Downey, 



John Kearsley, 
William Little, 
Joseph Swearingen, 
Alexander White, 
John Briscoe. 

David Humphreys, 

John D. Orr, 

William H. Harding, 
.John Wager, 
Benjamin Bell, 

William P. Flood, 
William Lee, 

John Lyons, 



Benjamin Davenport, 
Richard Williams, 

Lee Griggs, 

George W. Humphreys, 

Smith Slaughter, 
.John Moler. 

William Butler, 

George Reynolds, 

Fontaine Beckham, 
Joseph^McMurran. 



George B. Stephenson, 

Bushrod C. Washington, 
James Griggs. 



Van Rutherford, 
John Packett, 
Daniel Morgan, 
Jacob Bedinger, 
Ferdinando Fairfax. 

William Brown. 



William Byrd Page, 
James Hite. 



Richard Williams, 
John T. A. Washington. 

Presley Marmaduke. 

Benjamin.Bell. 



1819. 
Durst Long, 
John H. Lewis, 

1833. 
Henry Boteler, 

1834. 
John Yates, 

1835. 
John S. Gallaher. 

1837. 
Samuel K. White, 

1830. 
Baker Tapscott. 

1832. 
James B. Wager. 

1834. 
Thomas Timberlake, 



Sebastian Eaty, 
Richard Duffleld. 



David Snively, 



John A. Washington. 



James Shirley, Jr., 



John Quigley, 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 



345 



Thomas Hite, 
William F. Turner, 
Thomas Briscoe, 
William Grantham. 

John C. R. Taylor, 



1836. 
Samuel W. Lackland, 
Braxton Davenport, 
Thomas H. Willis, 

1838. 
Alex. R. Boteler, 

1839. 
Charles Harper, 

1841. 
John Strider, 
Anthony Kennedy, 



William F. Lock, 
G. W. Hammond, 
Robert Worthington, 

Richard Henderson. 

G. B. Wager. 

James Grantham, 
William O. Macoughtry. 



Jacob Morgan, 

John T. Henkle, 
John Stephenson, 
John J. H. Straith, 

1852. — An act of the Legislature empowering a change in the man- 
ner of selecting justices of the peace and providing for an election and 
distinct term of service for those officials, having been passed by the 
General Assembly of the Commonwealth, the following gentlemen 
were chosen : 

District No. 1.— Jonas Walraven, John C. R. Taylor, Logan Osburn, John J. 
Grantham. 

District No. 3.— John F. Smith, Robert W. Baylor, Jacob W. Wageley, David Fry. 

District No. 3. — Braxton Davenport, Thomas W. Keyes, John J. Lock, Horatio 
N. Gallaher. ' 

District No. 4.— John Avis, Jr., Samuel Ridenour, George B. Beall, John T. 
Henkle. 

District No. 5. — Lewis Lucas, Vincent M. Butler, John Hess, David Bilmeyer. 

District No. 6. — Minor Hurst, John Quigley, John Keplinger, Alexander R. 
Boteler. 

District No. 7. — John Moler, William Turk, James Logic, Joseph L. Russell. 

District No. 8. — Armistead M. Ball, George W. Little, Thomas W. Shriver, George 
W. Tacey. 

Braxton Davenport was selected by his associates as presiding 
justice, to which position he was successively elected till his death, in 
1862. 

1856. — The following are those elected in 1856, the term of service 
being four years: 

District No. 1.— Roger Chew, Charles H. Lewis, Logan Osburn, John J. Grantham. 

District No. 3.— John F. Smith, Robert W. Baylor, Meredith Helm, David Fry. 

District No. 3.— Braxton Davenport, John J. Lock, Horatio N. Gallaher, T. W. 
Keyes. 

District No. 4.— Andrew Kennedy, Samuel Ridenour, John T. Henkle, George B. 
Beall, William T. Alexander, serving unexpired term. 

District No. 5.— Lewis Lucas, Jacob W. Reynolds, John Hes", John F. Ham- 
tramck. 

District No. 6.— Joseph Welshans, John Quigley, John Keplinger, Alexander R. 
Boteler. 



346 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

District No. 7.— John Moler, William H. Turk, Samuel W. Patterson, Joseph L. 
Russell. 

District No. 8. — Armistead M. Ball, George W. Little, Israel Russell, George W. 
Tacey. 

I860.— The following are those elected in this year. Some served 
out their term, only in name as the war coming on a year afterward 
nearly all official business was for four years in Jefferson County al- 
most estopped for that period: 

District No. 1.— Logan Osburn, Charles H. Lewis, Fisher A. Lewis, John W. Mc- 
Curdy. 

District No. 2. — John W. Grantham, JohnF. Smith, J. Gregg Gibson, David Fry. 

District No. 3.— John J. Lock, Samuel Ridenour, Braxton Davenport, Thomas Hite. 

District No. 4. — William F. Alexander, George W. Eichelberger, John Moler, 
John M. Engle. 

District No. 5.— L. C. Heskett, Jacob W. Reynolds, Samuel Knott, George Lick- 
lider. 

District No. 6. — Vincent M. Butler, John Quigley, John Keplinger, Joseph Wels- 
hans. 

District No. 7. — William Smallwood, William McCoy, Edward H. Chambers, Rob- 
ert N. Duke. 

District No. 8. — Charles Johnson, John A. Brooks, A. H. Herr, Reziu Cross. 

" May 22, 1861. — At a court continued and held this day, present 
Braxton Davenport, presiding justice, and Charles H. Lewis, Fisher 
A. Lewis, John W. McCurdy, John W. Grantham, John F. Smith, J. 
Gregg Gibson, David Fry, John J. Lock, Samuel Ridenour, William 
F. Alexander, George W. Eichelberger, John Moler, John M. Engle, 
George Licklider, Samuel Knott, Jacob W. Reynolds, V. M. Butler, 
John Keplinger, Joseph Welshans, Edmund H. Chambers, Robert N. 
Duke, William Smallwood, A. H. Herr and Charles Johnson. 

" The justices having been summoned to consider the propriety of 
accepting or adopting an act of the Legislature of this State, passed 
January 19, 1861, to authorize the county courts of the several coun- 
ties of the State to make apjjropriations to arm the militia, etc., the 
court by a unanimous vote accepted the said act of the assembly, and ap- 
pointed a committee, composed of Braxton Davenport, Thomas Ruth- 
erford and Humphrey Keyes, to negotiate a loan of $12,500, to be ap- 
propriated to the use of the soldiers of this county and their families." 

The above literal extract from the records shows the unanimity of 
the people of Jefferson in stepping to the front in the defense of what 
they believed to be their rights. Her gallant soldiers died on every 
field, and the names she has furnished the pages of history are as nu- 
merous and as brilliant as any of her sister counties, even if any oiher 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 347 

county can make as glorious a showing. To assist the raising of the 
appropriation and to make the tax less onerous, the public schools 
were ordered to be closed, thereby saving the outlay for school ex- 
penses. 

At the December term, 1862, of the court there appears among the 
proceedings a " Tribute of Respect to Col. Braxton Davenport, late 
Presiding Justice," who had just died. The deceased had for many 
years been presiding justice, was an upright, honorable citizen, and 
highly respected. He was the father of Col. H. B. Davenport, who 
resides near Charlestown. 

At the beginning of hostilities all the court records, as has been 
stated, were carried into the interior of the State, with the exception 
of one each of the last books. Very little or no business was trans- 
acted for several years, an occasional meeting occurring, the last one 
under the old State laws in 1864. 

In the meantime the State of West Virginia had been created, 
upsetting the old methods, and Shepherdstown having been made the 
county seat, the first proceedings are held in that town, and are in 
substance as follows, recorded April 25, 1865: 

The first minutes of the proceedings of the board of commission- 
ers at this date states that they met for the purpose of dividing the 
county into townships, and counting the votes cast at an election for 
township ofiicers recently held. It was found that voting occurred 
only in four townships: Chapline, Shepherd, Bolivar and Harper's 
Ferry. J. Thomas Chapline, Daniel Cameron, Alexander Fossett and 
T. W. Potterfield were elected supervisors. Alexander Fossett was 
elected by the board its president; Joseph A. Chapline was elected 
clerk. 

About the same time an election was held with the following result: 
County treasurer, Joseph Welshans; superintendent of schools, S. V. 
B. Strider, and several minor of&cers. 

For some time, as per the records, the principal business seems to 
have been the granting of licenses to sell liquor and the counting of 
the votes at the frequent elections. The mass of the people of the 
county appear to have taken very little interest in the new order of 
things. 

In June a "Recorder's Court" was organized, with George Byers 
as recorder. 

January, 1866. James Logie, president of the supervisors; H. C. Entler, clerk. 



348 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

January, 1869. Jno. D. Staley, president of the supervisors; M. T. Ingles, clerk. 

January, 1870. Charles H. Traynor, clerk. 

September, 1871. J. H. Haines, president of the supervisors; G. H. Turner, clerk. 

April 11, 1871. — The county seat having been by act of the Legis- 
lature moved back to Charlestown, the supervisors met there in 
Hooff's Hall. 

1872. — William H. Kable was president of the county court. 

Under the new constitution the magisterial districts were seven, with 

two magistrates to each. An election was held August 22, 1872, and 

resulted as follows: 

Charlestovpn. — Hiram O'Bannon, B. C. Washington. 
Harper's Ferry. — Basil Avis, J. J. Kern. 
Middleway.— John F. Smith, M. Helm. 
Osburn. — Samuel L. Rissler. Solomon Fleming. 
Potomac. — E. G. Herr, William Rightstine. 
Bolivar. — John G. Crockwell, John T. Henkle. 
Shepherd.— W. B. Daniels, William Lambright. 

January 1, 1877. — President of the court, Eobert W. Baylor. 

Potomac. — William Rightstine, Jacob S. Melvin. 
Bolivar. — John G. Cockrell, A. M. Sponceller. 
Harper's Ferry. — Basil Avis, Thomas Thrasher. 
Osburn. — Randolph Custer, Charles C. Conklyn. 
Middleway.— Joel W. Roberts, John F. Smith. 
Shepherd.— D. S. Rentch, William B. Daniels. 
Charlestown. — John F. Lock, Hiram O'Bannon. 

January 1, 1881. — Robert W. Baylor, president. 

Charlestown. — William Burnett, John Avis. 
Osburn. — Charles H. Kable, Solomon Fleming. 
Middleway.— Meredith Helm, John F. Smith. 
Potomac. — Jacob Ferrels, Adam Link. 
Shepherd. — John M. Engle, T. W. Latimer. 
Bolivar. — John G. Cockrell, William L Moler. 
Harper's Ferry. — Joseph Barry, Basil Avis. 

January 1, 1885. — The county was again redistricted, being re- 
duced to five, instead of seven, magisterial districts. I. H. Strider 
was made president of the court. The others were: 

Charlestown. — David Howell, C. W. Trussell. 
Kabletown. — Thomas Lock, C. C. Conklyn. 
Midleway. — Samuel D. Engle, George D. Johnson. 
Shepherdstown. — D. S. Rentch, John D. McGary. 
Harper's Ferry. — L. W. Delauder, Charles H. Briggs. 

January 1, 1887. — James Law Hooff being elected president of 

the court, died before the expiration of his term, and W. H. T. Lewis was 

appointed to fill the vacancy, but afterward elected to the position. 

He is the present incumbent (1889), and the following are the court: 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 349 

Charlestown.— C. Frank Gallaher, David Howell. 
Kabletown.— Thomas Lock, B. F. Johnson. 
Middleway. — A. H. Tanquary, George D. Johnson. 
Shepherdstown.— D. S. Rentch, A. S. Link. 
Harper's Ferry. — Charles H. Briggs. William J. Moler. 

The first clerk of the court was George Hite, who served from the 
organization of the j?6unty, in 1801, till 1817, when he died, and his 
son, Kobert G. Hite^ was appointed and served till 1823, when he dy- 
ing, Dr. Samuel J. Cramer was appointed, who served till his death, 
in 1840. Thomas A. Moore, son-in-law of Dr. Cramer, was then ap- 
pointed, and served till 1889, when he died. Jared D. Moore, the 
former deputy clerk, was appointed to fill the vacancy, and is the 
present incumbent. 

Dr. Cramer, who served for nearly twenty years as clerk of this 
court, was a gentleman of much culture, and was highly respected for 
his many virtues by all who came in contact with him. He was of 
Irish birth, and was educated as a physician at the University of Ed- 
inburgh, Scotland, where he graduated. He came to Jefferson County 
not long after the organization of the county, and was naturalized, as 
has been stated, in 1811, and shortly afterward was appointed a magis- 
trate. The Doctor used to tell of his acquaintanceship with Sir 
Humphrey Davy, the eminent Scotch physician and scientist. When 
young Cramer was graduated he selected for his thesis, " The Varia- 
tions in Skin-Color," and had occasion to quote from a small obscure 
pamphlet some facts bearing upon his subject. The quotations were 
so full of thought and freshness that the faculty questioned Cramer 
about their authorship, and in company with two of them sought out 
the unknown author, whom they found to be a young clerk in an 
apothecary's shop by the name of Humphrey Davy. 

Thomas A. Moore came to Jefferson County in 1824, and served 
altogether, as deputy clerk and clerk, fifty -two years. He deservedly 
ranks as one of the " old clerks," of the grand old commonwealth. 
In a little work recently issued, written by one of the " old clerks " 
of one of the central counties of the State, entitled, " The Old Clerks 
of Virginia," which gives sketches of all the clerks since the organiza- 
tion of the State, or at least gives the names of all those that were at- 
tainable in what is now old Virginia, the author has made an exception 
in the case of Mr. Moore, who a portion of his time served in West 
Virginia. It is the only sketch of a West Virginia clerk, in the book, 
and the author has done himself honor by the insertion of it. Next to 



350 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

James Keith, clerk of Frederick County, who served sixty-two years and 
five months, Mr. Moore served the longest of any valley county clerk 
He led Mr. Thomas S. Tidball, of Frederick, two years in the race. 
One clerk across the ridge, or rather in Central Virginia, served sixty- 
six years. No rotation in office about that. 

The Circuit Court. — The following entry in the first order-book of 
the Circuit Court speaks for itself: 

"Be it remembered that in pursuance of an act of the general as- 
sembly of Virginia passed on the 16th day of April, 1831, entitled ' An 
act to establish a Court of Law and Chancery in each of the counties 
of the Commonwealth, and in certain corporations therein mentioned,' 
a special term of the Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery 
was held in and for Jefferson County, at the Court- House of the said 
county in Charlestown on the 28th day of May, 1831. 

" Hon. Richard E. Parker, a Judge of the General Court and 
Judge of the Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery of the 
Thirteenth Circuit and in the Seventh District, having been assigned 
to the said circuit, presided at the session of the court on the day 
above given and appointed Robert T. Brown Clerk of the same, who 
took the required oath and entered into bonds for the faithful per- 
formance of his duties, with the following gentlemen as his sureties: 
> James Brown, William Brown,' George W. Hammond, William Lucas, 
Leonard Sadler and Robert Lucas." 

At the September term of the court Judge John Scott presided. 
John E. Page was appointed attorney for the commonwealth for this 
court. Robert Y. Conrad was the first lawyer to apply for admission 
to practice in this new tribunal, September 1, 1831. 

In consequence of some business matters Judges Parker and Scott 
excTianged circuits for a few months, but at September term, 1832, 
Judge Parker appeared and so continued till his death in 1836. 

In the following June, 1837, Hon. I. R. Douglass, having been 
appointed judge of the court, took his seat and presided as such till 
his death in 1850. 

Hon. Richard Parker, son of the former judge of that name, was 
appointed to the position made vacant by the death of Judge Doug- 
lass, and took his seat upon the bench at the May term, 1851. In 
1859 Judge Parker presided at the trial of John Brown and his asso- 
ciates, who were convicted and hung. The proceedings of those 
famous trials are to be found in the records intact, and will be noticed 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 351 

in the chapter devoted to the " John Brown Raid." Judge Parker is 
still living (1890) in his quaint and comfortable mansion at the 
southern edge of Winchester. The edifice was built by Judge Hugh 
Holmes, at the beginning of this century, on a plan furnished by the 
illustrious statesman and president, Thomas JefPerson, being one of 
two designed by the author of the Declaration of Independence, the 
other being in Staunton. The venerable Judge Parker, although now 
nearly eighty years of age, walks as erect and seems as hale and hearty 
•as ever. He is of medium stature and compactly built. 

At the February term, 1860, Hon. John Keuney, judge of the 
Twelfth Judicial Circuit, held a special term in consequence of the 
absence of Judge Parker, but from October, 1861, a break in the pro- 
ceedings of the court occurs, nothing being recorded, no business, evi- 
dently, transacted, with the exception of the record of two judgments 
confirmed by the Court of Appeals at Richmond. Then a hiatus 
occurs till May, 1865, when the Circuit Court is opened at Shepherds- 
town, with Hon. L. P. W. Balch, judge of the Tenth Judicial Dis- 
trict of West Virginia, and AVilliam A. Chapline, clerk of said court. 
William Rush was appointed by the court sheriff of the county. 

April 10, 1866, Judge Ephraim B. Hall was appointed and pre- 
sided till March, 1867, when Joseph A. Chapline was invested with 
the ermine and presided till 1870, when Judge Hall again came to the 
front in September of that year. 

September 12, 1871, the Circuit Court having been removed from 
Shepherdstown in consequence of the restoration of the county seat 
to Charlestown, met in Lee Hall with Hon, Thayer Melvin, judge of 
the First Judicial Circuit presiding, but the November term of the 
same year Judge E. B. Hall once again took the judicial reins and 
lield them till the September term, 1872, when Judge John Blair 
Hoge was elected. 

In November, 1872, Robert T. Brown was restored to his former 
position, as clerk of the Circuit Court which he had so ably and 
acceptably filled for many years. 

In March, 1877, Mr. Brown died, and Judge Hoge appointed 
^Bushrod C. Washington clerk of the court to fill the unexpired term. 
^R. T. Brown had been clerk of this court from 1831, nearly fifty 
years, and resolutions of respect were ordered to be spread upon the 
minutes of the court. A meeting of the bar and other persons was 
held with Hon. Andrew Hunter as chairman. Hon. D. B. Lucas drew 
lip the resolutions and, after their passage, they were duly recorded. 



352 HISTOllY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Hon. Charles James Faulkner, Jr., was elected in 1880, judge of 
the Circuit Court, and presided for the first time at the January term, 
1881. Judge Faulkner served till his election as United States Sen- 
ator from West Virginia, in 1887, when Hon. Frank Beckwith, of 
Charlestown, was appointed to fill the unexpired term. Judge Faulkner 
of course having resigned. Hon. Joseph S. Duckwall was elected in 
the fall of 1888 and is the present incumbent. 

After B. C. Washington's term of service expired Frank Lynch 
was made clerk and served till 1887, Avhen T. W. Latimer, the present 
incumbent, was elected. 

The following are the sheriffs who have served, from the organi- 
zation of the county to the present time: 1801, William Little; 1803,^ 
Joseph Swearingen; 1805, Alexander White; 1807, John Briscoe; 
1809, George North; 1811, Daniel Collett; 1813, Abraham Daven- 
port; 1815, Van Rutherford; 1817, John Packett; 1819, Daniel 
Morgan; 1821, Jacob Bedinger; 1828, David Humphreys; 1826, 
James Hite; 1828, William P. Flood; 1830, Carver Willis; 1832, 
Richard Williams; 1834, John T. A. Washington; 1836, John 
Packett; 1838, George W. Humphreys; 1840, Sebastian Eaty; 1842, 
Richard Duffield; 1844, David Snively; 1846, John Moler; 1848, 
George Reynolds; 1850, David Humphreys; 1851-52, Fontaine 
Beckham, a portion of the time; 1852, John W. Moore; 1855, Robert 
Lucas; 1858, James W. Campbell; 1800, Joseph Crane; 1861 to 
1865, a sheriff did not amount to much in Jefferson, as the military, on 
one side or the other, were amply sufficient. West Virginia having 
been sliced off of the Old Dominion, whether she wanted it or not, 
a sheriff would go stark mad in trying to find out where his jurisdic- 
tion lay — what State he was living in. In 1865, however, when 
matters again became comparatively normal, William Rush was 
sheriff; 1867, T. W. Potterfield; 1870, George W. Chase; 1873, 
Edward Tearney; 1876, Eugene Baker; 1880, John S. Moore, elected, 
died, and his son George filled the unexpired term; 1884, J. Garland 
Hurst; 1888, Eugene Baker, present incumbent. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 353 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

CHARLESTOWN. 

Eakly Settlers and Settlements— Braddock's Route— The Old Ruin- 
Establishment OF THE Town— Charles Washington— An Early Race 
Course— Primitive Sports— Capt. William Cherry— The Famous 
Old Tavern— Illustrious Guests— Military Companies— Some Early 
Merchants— Opening of Schools— Business Prospects— The Mexican 
War — Gallant Officers — Col. Hamtramck — Old St. George's 
Chapel— A Picturesque Ruin— Sketch of the Ancient Landmark- 
Its Origin— Zion's Episcopal Church— PresbyterianChurch— Baptist 
Church— Methodist Church— Catholic Church— Colored Churches— 
Schools— The Press— Societies— Public Officers— Lawyers— Enter- 
prises. 

NOT long after the creation of Frederick County in 1738 and its 
organization in 1743, Lawrence Washington, elder brother of 
the afterward illustrious Gen. George Washington, came into this sec- 
tion and purchased numerous tracts of land, lying principally in what 
is now Jefferson County. He bought mostly from Lord Fairfax, but 
a number of plantations from other persons as well. He never resided 
in the Valley, but remained upon his estate, afterward known as 
Mount Vernon, which at his death passed into the possession of his 
brother George. Samuel Washington also came to the great Valley 
and purchased land, where he and his descendants lived and became 
locally prominent men. Samuel was one of the justices of Frederick 
County before the Revolutionary period, and in 1771 was appointed 
colonel of the militia of that county, in which position he had the honor 
of selecting as one of his captains the afterward famous Gen. Daniel 
Morgan, the hero of Cowpens. Morgan at the time was an obscure 
farmer living near Battletown, from whom the title undoubtedly orig- 
inated, in consequence of the numerous personal rencounters in 
which the redoubtable Daniel was said to have been engaged. 

Charles Washington, the younger brother of George Washington, 
an amiable, modest, and dignified gentleman, also came to what is 
now Jefferson County, purchased a large tract of land and settled 
near the present site of Charlestown, for whom it afterward was 



:j 



354 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

named. The nucleus of a town was here as early as, possibly, 1755,. 
when Braddock's army, or at least one of the regiments of his unfort- 
unate command, passed through this section. And in this connec- 
tion a word of explanation in regard to the route taken by Gen. Brad- 
dock may not only serve to reconcile some misconceptions in regard 
to it, but at the same time be of interest: Braddock arrived at Alex- 
andria with two regiments of English regulars, and after making the 
necessary preparations for his long trip, started westward. One regi- 
ment proceeded out through Maryland to Frederick, the other more 
directly westward to Winchester by what was known as early as 1750 
as the "great road to Alexandria," which ran through Berryville. 
The first portion after a short rest at Frederick, Md., proceeded across 
the Potomac somewhere above Harper's Ferry, possibly at the Pack- 
horse Ford near Shepherdstown, and so on to the vicinity of what is 
now Charlestown, where they remained about a mile west of that site 
till they received orders to march forward and join the other regiment 
which had gone to Winchester, and where Col. Washington joined the 
force with his Virginians. Braddock was with the force at Winches- 
ter, where it is also said that Benjamin Franklin met the party. Win- 
chester being the only town on the then Western frontier, supplies, 
pack-horses and wagons were there obtained, after which the little 
army moved forward by the " Warm Spring road " (so called as early 
as 1750), it being the only regular road then laid out bearing to the 
northwest. The force from near Charlestown, or rather its site, 
joined the main portion to the westward of where now stands Martins- 
burg, but which at that time had no existence. The entire party then 
moved, byway of the Warm Springs (Berkeley Springs), to its sad 
fate not long afterward. This understanding of the matter ex- 
plains the fact of so many "Braddock roads," and makes it entirely 
reasonable that Frederick, Md., Charlestown, Berryville, Winchester, 
Martinsburg, and a dozen other localities, should each have one of the 
rash and unfortunate general's " roads " in their vicinity, as well as 
one of the " wells," his soldiers are credited with having dug. 

Charlestown has in its vicinity one of these wells, and the " road '* 
is plainly pointed out by the vista in a stretch of woods not far to the 
west of the town. Now whether there was a town or anything resem- 
bling a village at this early day (1755) is not certainly known, but 
there was certainly a mill, and perhaps a blacksmith shop along the 
little creek that passes by the ancient village. The mill was there be- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 355 

fore 1750, and of course a residence or two. The location is so beau- 
tiful, the scenery so delightful, and the air in consequence of its ele- 
vated and protected position, so healthful, of the Charlestown of to-day, 
that it could not have failed to attract the attention of the early settlers, 
to say nothing of the splendid church whose ruins still give evidence 
of its colonial grandeur, that was right in their midst.* The popula- 
tion of this section was almost entirely made up of adherents to the es- 
tablished church, the Church of England. Charles AVashingtou re- 
sided here in a log cabin, and it is more than probable that before 1770 
there was considerable of a village on the present site of Charlestown. 
At the date given and for sixteen years thereafter it had not been es- 
tablished by law, as Winchester, Stephensburg, Mecklenburg and Mar- 
tinsburg had been, but the village evidently grew rapidly, so that by 
the close of the Revolution, its proprietor, Charles Washington, in con- 
junction with a number of other gentlemen, applied to the General 
Assembly of the State to have it established by an act of that body, 
which was accordingly done as follows: 

(Passed October, 1786.) 
CHAPTER LXXX. — An act to establish a Toum on the lands of 

Charles Washington, in the Comity of Berkeley. 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That eighty acres of 
land, the property of Charles Washington, lying in the county of 
Berkeley, be laid out in such manner as he may judge best, into lots 
of half an acre each, with convenient streets, which shall be, and is 
.hereby established a town, by the name of Charlestown ; that John 
Augustine Washington, Robert Rutherford, William Darke, James 
Crane,- Cato Moore, Benjamin Rankin, Magnus Tate, Thornton Wash- 
ington, AVilliam Little, Alexander White, and Richard Ransone, gen- 
tlemen, are hereby appointed trustees of the said town, and that they, 
or a majority of them, shall have full power from time to time, to 
settle and determine all disputes concerning the bounds of the lots, 
and to establish such rules and orders for the regular building of 
houses thereon, as to them shall seem best; and in case of the death, 
removal out of the county, or other legal disability, of any one or more 
of the said trustees, it shall be lawful for the remaining trustees to 
elect and choose others in the room of those dead or disabled, and the 
person or persons so elected, shall be vested with the same powers 
and authority as any one in this act particularly appointed. So soon 
as the purchasers or owners of lots within the said town shall have 
built thereon a dwelling-house, sixteen feet square, with a brick or 

*More extended notice of this famous old ruin will be found under the heading of " The- 
Chui-ches." 



356 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

stone chimney, such purchaser and owner shall be entitled to, and have 
and enjoy, all the rights, privileges, and immunities, which the free- 
holders and inhabitants of other towns in this State, not incorporated, 
hold and enjoy. 

The proprietor gave for the use of the town the four corner lots 
upon which now stand the court-house, post-office, jail, and the row 
of buildings on the northeast corner of the two intersecting streets 
where the buildings mentioned are located. In the list of trustees of 
the town are several well known names — names that have given luster 
to the community whereof they were a part: Gen. William Darke, a 
Revolutionary hero; Hon. Robert Rutherford, member of Congress; 
Hon. Alexander White, the distinguished lawyer and member of the 
convention of Virginia which ratified the national Constitution; Cato 
Moore, one of a line of eminent citizens and lawyers; Richard Ran- 
sone, the two Washingtons and others. 

At the time of the establishment of Charlestown by act and name 
there must have been considerable population and business. It con- 
tained two or three good taverns, and a number of stores and shops, 
and it was the center of the sporting gentlemen of the day throughout 
the entire valley. The first advertisement or mention of horse racing 
occurs in April, 1786, six months before the above act was passed. 
There is no mention in either of the two Winchester papers of 1787-88 
of any race-course, but the following copied from the Virginia Jour- 
nal and Alexandria Gazette, shows that the lovers of horseflesh of 
Charlestown were far advanced in the "sport of speed:" 

TO -BE RUN FOR OVER THE COURSE NEAR THIS PLACE, 
ON TUESDAY THE 9TH DAY OF MAY NEXT, 
AGREEABLE TO RULES OF THE FRED- 
ERICKSBURG JOCKEY CLUB, 

FOR A PURSE OF FORTY POUNDS. 

Free for any horse, mare, or gelding the best two in three 3 -mile 
heats. Horses to be entered with Capt. William Cherry, the day be- 
fore the race ; subscribers paying thirty shillings entrance money, or 
double at the post ; and non-subscribers forty shillings, or double at 
the post. 

On Wednesday the 10th day of May, will be run for, over the same 
course, agreeable to the same rules, the Entrance Money of the day 
preceding, the best two in three 3-mile heats. 

Managers will be appointed for conducting the races and to de- 
termine all disputes that may arise. 

Charles-Town, Berkeley Co., Va., April 8, 1786. 



JEFFEKSON COUNTY. 357 

The Capt. William Cherry spoken of in the above advertisement 
was an old Revolutionary hero, and proprietor of the famous " Old 
Cherry Tavern," which was occupied for nearly a century, and which 
was only demolished a few years ago to give place to modern improve- 
ments. This ancient hostelry in its early prime sheltered many of 
the great historic characters of the infant days of the Republic, and 
even for half a century after the Revolution its rude walls resounded 
with the hilarity of the "bloods" of the lower valley. Here Wash- 
ington and Jefferson and Madisoif and La Fayette no doubt hob- 
nobbed over their French and Spanish wines, for those worthies and 
many more visited this section — Washington frequently. Here, too, 
that brilliant, erratic and misguided soldier of fortune, over- ambitious 
for self, but never a traitor to the American cause. Gen. Charles Lee, 
and his friends, Gen. Horatio Gates and Gen. Adam Stephen, drank 
many a bowl of punch, for they were boon companions, high livers and 
generous drinkers, all. 

Several other taverns were kept in Charlestown about the begin- 
ning of the century. Thomas Flagg was proprietor of one and 
shortly afterward Robert Fulton opened one. In those early days 
taverns, or ordinaries, as they were called, were more plentiful in 
towns than they are now, and possibly fully as well conducted. Trav- 
eling was mostly on horseback, and the traveler going on long jour- 
neys must, after twenty or thirty miles of riding over the miserable , 
roads of that day, halt toward evening for rest. No railroads stretched 
their iron arms from point to point to whisk the anxious merchant or 
pleasure seeker from his very door almost hundreds of miles in a few 
hours. Therefore they must have the handy tavern at frequent 
intervals. 

In the Farmers^ Repository of 1808 may be found the following 
advertisement, which shows that the ancient sport of horse-racing 
was still kept up: 

The Charlestown races will commence on the 2d Wednesday in 
October, 1808. Purses of 100 dollars for the 1st day; 60 dollars for 
the 2d day. To be conducted under the rules of the Charlestown 
Jockey Club. Four horses to start each day. Entrance 5 per ct. 

George Hite, 
John Anderson. 

The military spirit at this date, 1808, seems to have been quite 
popular, as there were two companies organized, but they were possi- 
bly scenting the battle between their own and the mother country that 

22 



358 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

was approaching with silent but sure tread, for Jefferson has never 
been behind when the call for her sons to gird on their armor has 
been raised. ,Capt. Kite's "Jefferson Troop of Horse" and Capt. 
Saunder's " Charlestown Blues," are both ordered to meet for parade 
in the ReposHory of April 1, 1808. 

Two of the prominent mercantile firms of 1808 were George and 
J. Humphreys and W. W. Lane, who kept general stocks of goods. 
Daniel Annin was a druggist, or at least kept a stock of certain kinds 
of drugs. He advertises 160 pounds of the best Peruvian bark, 50 
bottles castor oil, 10 gallons lemon shrub, and 64 gallons flax-seed oil. 
Ferdinando Fairfax, of Shannon Hill, advertises two barrels of apple 
brandy. Aaron Chambers and Benjamin Eagins were tailors; AVilliam 
Morrow and John Lemon were weavers; Charles G. Ricliter was an 
ornamental hair-dresser, and William Cordell taught an evening- 
school. Considerable building seems to have been going on about 
1810 to 1815, when the population had grown to not far from one 
thousand. Good schools were opened, several churches built, and alto- 
gether the little village seemed to have a hopeful future. 

The Lower Valley in the Mexican War. — The counties of Jefferson 
and Berkeley were principally instrumental in raising the volunteers 
sent from the lower valley to the Mexican war, and a number of the 
officers of the regiment contributed by Virginia were also from these 
counties. The regiment was composed of the full complement of ten 
infantry companies, but was increased by consent of the War Depart- 
ment to ten, and before the close of the war to fourteen companies. 
It was mustered into the service in December, 1846, and January, 
1847, and sailed in transports from Fortress Monroe in the latter 
month, landing at the entrance of the Kio Grande the last of Febru- 
ary. Thence the regiment proceeded in steamboats up the river 
named and the San Juan to Camargo, from which place it marched in 
detachments by way of Monterey and Saltillo to Buena Vista, the bat- 
tle at that point, however, having been fought before its arrival. The 
counties of Berkeley and Jefferson each sent one company to this reg- 
iment. The officers of the Berkeley company were: Ephraim G. Al- 
burtis, captain; Otho H. Harrison, first lieutenant; David W, Gray 
and George W. Chambers, second lieutenants. The officers of the 
company from Jefferson were: John AV. Rowan, captain; John Avis, 
first lieutenant; Lawrence B. Washington and William McCormick, 
second lieutenants. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 359 

John F. Hamtramck of Jefferson County was appointed colonel 
of this regiment. He was a native of Michigan, and when but six- 
teen years of age was a sergeant in the United States army, on duty 
in the Northwest. For gallantry in an action with the Indians and 
British, July 19, 1814, the brave young Sergt. Hamtramck was ap- 
pointed a cadet in the United States Military Academy, where he was 
graduated in 1819. He resigned from the army in 1822, after- 
ward settled in JefPerson County, and at the time of his death, in 1853, 
was one of the justices of the county of his adoption. Col. Hamtramck 
was a gentleman of fine military instincts, a gallant and fearless sol- 
dier, and a rigid disciplinarian of the old school. His memory is re- 
vered by all who knew him, and his name lives in the honor paid him 
by christening the old time crack company of Shepherdstown, the 
" Hamtramck Guards." 

Upon the return of Gen. Taylor to the United States on leave of 
absence in October, 1847, the command of the army of occupation de- 
volved upon Gen. Wool, and Col, Hamtramck succeeded Gen. Wool 
in the command of the division stationed at and near Buena Vista, 
which command he retained until June, 1848, when the army began 
its homeward march. 

Thomas Beverly Randolph, of Warren County, was appointed lieu- 
tenant-colonel of this regiment. He had entered the army from the 
military academy at the beginning of the war of 1812, and distin- 
guished himself in service on the northern frontier, especially in the 
attack on Fort George, Canada, in May, 1813. He resigned from the 
army soon after the close of the war, and retired to private life. Col. 
Randolph was an excellent officer and a cultured gentlemau. 

George A. Porterfield, of Berkeley County, a graduate of the Vir- 
ginia military institute (now president of the Charlestown bank), was 
elected first-lieutenant of a company raised in the city of Richmond 
in June, 1846, and received into the service in December of the same 
year. The other officers of this company, all of whom were educated 
at the Virginia military institute, were: Edward C. Carrington, cap- 
tain ; Carlton R. Munford and Henry W. Williamson, lieutenants. On 
July 10, 1847, Col. Porterfield was appointed adjutant of the Vir- 
ginia regiment, and October 17, of the same year, assistant adjutant- 
general to the division at Buena Vista, relieving Capt. Irwin McDowell, 
which position he held till the end of the war. 



860 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. 

Old St. George's Chapel. — One of the most singular as well as un- 
fortunate results of the proneness of humanity to forge'tfulness is evi- 
denced in the fact that all knowledge of the date of the building of 
the some-time splendid Chapel of St. George has entirely escaped the 
memory of the oldest residents of even the vicinity of the picturesque 
ruin that lies in such close proximity to Charlestown. Even Bishop 
Meade, who wrote extensively in regard to the early churches of the 
denomination that he so much honored, knew nothing of the origin of 
this grand old landmark of colonial days. He merely says, in his 
elaborate sketches of the " Old Churches and Old Families of Vir- 
ginia," that it was an old ruin when he was a boy, and places the date 
of its erection some time between 1760 and 1770. There are actually 
no records, in the United States at least, in regard to the origin of 
this old church, for had there been. Bishop Meade would have had 
access to them. It is inexplicable, for the devout and talented bishop 
has full and satisfactory accounts of many other churches that ante- 
date St. George's by at least one hundred years. Just why the date 
of building is set down as 1760-70 does not appear, but probably 
arises from the fact that Norborne Parish was created between the 
dates named, but it does not follow that the chapel was built synchro- 
nologically with the creation of the parish. Now, the new parish, cut 
from the northern third of Frederick Parish, which extended from the 
upper or southern line of what is now Shenandoah County to the Po- 
tomac, and from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Alleghanies, was 
named in honor of Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, who was 
governor of the colony of Virginia between the dates named above, 
1760-70. But the building may have been erected before 1760, and to 
bear out that idea there seems to be evidence in Hening's Statutes at 
Large, where a church is referred to in an old statute, wherein mention 
is made of one of the chapels being more costly than any of the others. 
This mention occurs about the time that the church officials Avere dis- 
placed and a new set appointed, in consequence of the misappropria- 
tion of the funds raised for church purposes. A portion of those 
charges may have had reference to the extravagance indulged in by 
the dispensers of the people's money. But it is altogether probable 
that private contributions materially assisted in the erection of the 
splendid colonial chapel. There was considerable stir in church- 
building about 1752 and a little later, when Lord Fairfax gave a num- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 361 

ber of sites for churches in various sections, and St. George's may 
have been commenced at as early a date as that given. Near where 
it was located there were many wealthy Church of England people, 
who would have taken pride in outdoing all their neighbors in the size 
and magnificence of their chapel. At any rate, the present ruin was 
once grand for its time. The walls were twenty-two inches in thickness, 
and constructed of stone quarried in the vicinity. The rest of the 
material is believed to have been brought from England, as there were 
no manufactories of the articles used therein in the colony at that 
time. The roof was covered with sheet-lead. The window and door 
frames were of cedar wood; the floor was laid in tiling; the high- 
backed pews were of oak and the pulpit of the same wood, elaborately 
carved and projecting from the wall considerably. The finishing and 
furnishing was rich, tasteful and harmonious. There were numerous 
graves marked by tombstones fifty years ago, but time and the ruthless 
hand of man have left not a trace of the latter and scarcely any indi- 
cation of the former. The ruin stands just as it did thirty or forty 
years ago, with barely any diminution in size. It is ivy-hung now 
as it was then. In summer it is an interesting and beautiful sight to 
behold the vines clinging and swinging in the soft breezes to the gray 
old walls that have stood there for 125 years. Through that once 
ornamented doorway Washington and many other illustrious men of 
his time often entered to take part in the ministrations led by Rev. 
Alexander Balmaine and Rev. Charles Mynn Thruston, the patriotic 
parson-soldiers of the Revolution. Tlie venerable pile is situated in 
an uncultivated field on the lands of Col. H. B. Davenport, about one 
mile from Cliarlestown, and the straggling grove of trees surrounding 
it seem endeavoringf to shelter their ancient friend from the rude 
winds, some of them, indeed, with their now leafless arms. 

Zion Episcopal Church. — Norborne Parish, in which this church 
was originally situated, and in which it continued to be for about fif- 
teen years, even after the separation of Jefferson from Berkeley County 
as has been previously stated, was created in 17G9. The Episcopa- 
lians, until the erection of Zion Church, worshiped at the old chapel 
south of Charlestown, and the ministers of the parish, as far as can be 
ascertained, were : Revs. Sturges, Veasy, Wilson, Bernard, Page, Heath, 
Wilmer and John Price. These covered the time from about 1770 to 
1813. During the pastorate of Rev. Benjamin Allen, who began his 
labors in 1815, the parish of St. Andrews was created, and about the 



362 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

same time, 1817, the first Zion Church was built. Since that date 
seven district parishes have emanated from the same source, viz. : 
Charlestown, Shepherdstown, Harper's Ferry, Martinsburg, Bunker 
Hill, Smithfield and Hedgesville. St. Andrews Parish was cotermin- 
ous with the limits of Jefferson County, and was the mother of four of 
the above district parishes. Kev. Mr. Allen exercised his ministry at 
twelve points included in the seven parishes just named, and for nine 
years, when he was succeeded by Rev. Benjamin Bosworth Smith, sub- 
sequently made first bishop of the diocese of Kentucky, and after- 
ward the venerable presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in this 
country. Rev. Alexander Jones was next rector for twenty-three 
years. During his incumbency, in 1838, the parish was subdivided 
by the organization of an independent congregation at Shepherdstown 
and again in 1849, by the separation of St. Johns Church, at Harper's 
Ferry. In his time also a second enlarged church was built which 
burned to the ground a few months after its completion. The congre- 
gation at once set to work to restore it, and the present still further 
enlarged building was consecrated, in 1852, under the charge of Rev. 
Dudley A. Tyng, son of Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, of New York. 
During the late war this church was sadly disfigured by the Federal 
soldiery, and in 1867, when Rev. Dr. W. H. Meade, a grandson of 
Bishop Meade, took charge of it, it was in a sad condition. Several 
years ago the congregation lost its rectory by fire, and the new church 
was injured by a storm, but notwithstanding all these misfortunes the 
church is stronger than ever to-day. They have lately erected a beau- 
tiful chapel on the main street of Charlestown, which gives evidence 
of the prosperity of the church. Rev. Dallas Tucker is the present 
pastor, having succeeded Mr Meade April 22, 18S3. 

Presbyterian Church. — The first Presbyterian Church in the ter- 
ritory now comprised within the boundaries of Jefferson County, ac- 
cording to Foote, in his ''Sketches of Virginia," was organized about 
1762, near the headwaters of Bullskin Run, probably near the pres- 
ent Summit Point, or Stone Chapel. The next was at Shepherdstown 
(then Mecklenburg) some time prior to 1775. Then followed Elk 
Branch, an off-shoot of the Mecklenburg Church, after 1775, and then 
Charlestown Church (not called by that name, however, until ten 
years afterward), but in common with the organization at or near the 
Bullskin, was known as " Hopewell." These societies called Rev. Will- 
iam Hill, a licentiate of Lexington Presbytery, to become their pastor, 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 363 

in 1792. Up to this date all these churches relied upon the visits of 
missionaries, and occasional " supplies," almost identical with those 
grand old soldiers of the cross the Methodist brethren term "itiner- 
ants." Mr. Hill was the first regular pastor of these associated bodies. 
He remained here until the year 1800, when he received a call to the 
church at Winchester, and was succeeded by Rev. Moses Hoge, who la- 
bored here until 1807. The Charlestown Church was then for about 
eight years without any regular pastor, but was visited frequently by 
Rev. Mr. Kennon, of Berryville, and other ministers, until Rev. John 
Matthews became its pastor in 1815. At the time of Mr. Matthews' 
selection as pastor, the society was reorganized by the election as rul- 
ing elders of Messrs. James Stephenson, Robert Worthington, Robert 
Slemmens, Thomas Likens and Andrew Woods. Upon the resigna- 
tion of Dr. Matthews, in 1825, Rev. William C. Warton supplied the 
pulpit until 1829, when Rev. Septimus Tustin became pastor. Mr. 
Tustin resigned in 1836 and was succeeded by Rev. Theodore Simpson, 
who was followed, in 1842, by Rev. Warren B. Dutton, who continued 
in charge of the church until 1866, when Rev. A. C. Hopkins succeeded 
to the pastorate, and has ably and acceptably filled the position since 
that time. Under the ministrations of this gentleman the church has 
prospered and he now enjoys presiding over a truly harmonious con- 
gregation. 

The first house of worship was a small stone edifice in the southern 
portion of the town, but this was replaced in the early part of the cent- 
ury by another of like material, but larger. In 1851 a brick church 
was erected on the main street of Charlestown on a most eligible lot do- 
nated by Mr. John Stephenson, who afterward gave other lots for the 
benefit of the church. Rev. Mr. Dutton was instrumental in having 
many improvements added to the church property, and in its pres- 
ervation during the late Civil war, and who deserves great credit for 
his untiring fidelity to his trust. In the division of the Presbyterian 
Church in 1838-39, in which Rev. Dr. Hill, the first pastor of the 
Charlestown Church took such active part, this congregation adhered 
to the old school portion, and in 1861 warmly espoused the Southern 
church side of the controversy. A number of young men have entered 
the ministry who were reared in this church, and it has always contrib- 
uted liberally to all worthy objects. It is strong in membership and 
some of the most influential citizens of the county seat as well as sur- 
rounding country, claim allegiance to its venerable associations. The 



364 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

cemetery dedicated to the use of the church contains the remains 
of many of the noted men and women of Jefferson County, running 
through nearly a century, and a stroll through the hallowed grounds 
of its " God's Acre," takes one back to the infant days of the Great 
Republic. 

Baptist Church. — From a sketch written several years ago by Rev. 
T. B. Shepherd, a former pastor of the Charlestown Baptist Church, the 
main facts of the following are taken: At a very early period in the 
settlement of the Valley, a Baptist Church was organized at Gerrards- 
town (now in Berkeley County), but owing to frequent interruptions 
by the Indians it was removed to Loudoun County, and located on the 
Ketocton Creek, from which it derived its name. Revs. David Thomas 
and James Ireland seem to have been the first Baptist ministers, in 
addition to Rev. David Gerrard after whom the above town was named, 
who preached in the Valley of Virginia, or at least in the portion now 
comprising Jefferson County. One knows not whether to admire most 
the zeal of those old missionaries or that of the hearers; the one trav- 
eled fifty or sixty miles to preach the Gospel, and the other journeyed 
as far to hear it. Frequently a meeting would be announced a year in 
advance, and at the appointed time the people would come for many 
miles around, and remain for a week or more attending religious serv- 
ices. The Baptists were the most uncompromising advocates of soul- 
liberty They wrote and plead for a total non-interference by govern- 
ment with religious matters, and Father Ireland, as he was termed, 
sleeps in the old Buck Marsh burying ground, near Berryville, but the 
principles he advocated have spread over the Continent. About 1850 
the Zoar Church was organized, mainly through the instrumentality 
of Rev. Christopher Collins; in July, 1856, its place of worship was 
removed to Charlestown, and in January, 1858, it directed its pastor. 
Rev. J. A. Haynes, to contract for the building of a house of worship. 
Dr. Haynes resigned on September 2, 1860, and was succeeded by 
Rev. T. B. Shepherd, under whose ministry the basement of the house 
was finished for a lecture-room, and a large congregation gathered. 
During the war the house was occupied by the Federal troops as a 
stable, the entire building excepting the roof and walls being destroyed. 
Like many other societies whose church buildings were thus destroyed 
during the war, it presented a claim for reimbursement which has 
never been paid. In August, 1872, the present fine structure was fin- 
ished, and the Potomac Association met with this church, at which 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 365 

session thirteen churches withdrew and formed the Shenandoah As- 
sociation. Thus, under great difficulties this denomination has grown, 
until now its membership is quite strong and all its surroundings are in 
a prosperous condition. After Mr, Shepherd came Rev. Frank McGee, 
who was followed by Rev. Frank Dickson, the present able and popu- 
lar pastor. 

Meihodist Episcopal Church. — Methodism in Jefferson County 
runs back possibly to as early a period as any of the other denomina- 
tions that began to take root after the American Revolution, but it is 
not probable that there was any organized church in Charlestown ear- 
lier than from about 1805 to 1815, at which latter date a society of 
this denomination was organized in Shepherdstown. Charlestown being 
quite a considerable village in 1800, and being upon the highway to 
the upper settlements of the Valley, it is certain that the voice of 
the itinerant Methodist preacher must have been heard at various por- 
tions of Jefferson County and especially at this point. Owing, however, 
to the population being largely either Episcopalian or Presbyterian, no 
Methodist Church was built until a comparatively late date. The so- 
ciety has grown of late years and now has a very comfortable church 
building and a good membership. The present pastor is Rev. James 
S. Gardner, D. D. 

Catholic Church. — Not until the present year, 1889, has this denom- 
ination had a church edifice in the pleasant town of Charlestown, 
although in times past mass has occasionally been said at private res- 
idences by different priests who visited some one or more of the faith, 
who could not make it convenient to attend services at the consecrated 
houses of worship at the neighboring towns. For a long time past 
Father Wilson, of Harper's Ferry, has been endeavoring to have built 
here a church, and at last his worthy endeavors have been crowned 
with success, as on the 26th of May, 1889, a beautiful, neat and well- 
built edifice was dedicated to the service of God. The congregation, 
though at present small, is full of the zeal for the promotion of their 
religious interests, so characteristic of the adherents of the church 
founded by Peter. Father T. J. Wilson is untiring in his work for 
the church, and is a gentleman who has the respect of all who come 
in contact with him, be they Catholic, Protestant or otherwise. 

Colored Chui'ches. — The colored people of Charlestown are abun- 
dantly blessed with houses of worship, as they have one Protestant 
Episcopal, one African Methodist Episcopal, one Free- Will Baptist 



366 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

and one Baptist (straight) Church, also an organization known as 
" Gallilean Fishermen," which is a benevolent institution. 

Educational. — Jefferson County was the first in the State of 
Virginia to establish free schools, which was long anterior to the 
late war, and did not arise out of any compulsion or influence brought 
to bear by politicians. There being a law in regard to the establish- 
ment of schools throughout the State, passed way back at the begin- 
ning of this century, that law was permitted to become a dead letter, 
through opposition to it or in consequence of a feeling against " free " 
schools or on account of its apparent impracticability, in every county 
save old Jefferson, which went to work and put in operation a system 
that did honor to the hearts of the officials who were instrumental in 
bringing it about, and was a credit to those who supported it at a time 
when it necessarily met with considerable opposition. But there 
always have been fine schools at Charlestown. Nearly one hundred 
years ago a classical school for boys was in successful operation there, 
and as early as 1809 a young ladies' seminary flourished. At present 
there are two good schools in addition to the public schools, all of 
which are well attended. 

The Press. — The first newspaper published at Charlestown was 
the Farmers'' Repository., which issued its initial number Friday, 
April 1, 1808; Williams & Brown were the publishers. The Virginia 
Free Press, established at Harper's Ferry in 1821, by John S. Gal- 
laher, was removed to Charlestown in 1827, and the Farmers'' 
Repository merged into it, the paper retaining the name of the Free 
Press. During a portion of the time John S. Gallaher published his 
paper at the Fe^Ty, he edited and published The Ladies'' Garland, a 
distinctly literary paper, the second one of the kind published in the 
United States. The Free Press was published for many years by 
H. N. tfe W. W. B. Gallaher, but at present it is run solely by W. W 
B. Gallaher. During the late war the office was entirely demolished 
by the Federal soldiers, types, presses, everything being consumed by 
fire. It is useless to say that the paper was susperided, which fate 
would, possibly, have overtaken the editor had the vandals caught 
him, bat he was out in the front in gray, backing his former editorials 
with his sabre. / 

The Spirit of Jefferson, another old and stanch Democratic 
journal, was established in 1844 by James W. Beller, who successfully 
ran it for a number of years. In 1853 the office was destroyed by 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 367 

fire, but it was shortly afterward re-established, and passed into the 
control of Lucas & Donavin. It successively passed into the control 
of Donavin & Douglass and Benjamin F. Beall, the latter running it 
for several years anterior to the late war, and owning it up to 1869. 
The paper was after the last date conducted by Dalgarn & Haines, 
then John W. Dalgarn and S. S. Dalgarn. From July 1, 1875, 
George W. Haines has edited and conducted the Spirit, and has made 
a live paper out of it. It, as well as the other two newspapers, are 
doing excellent work for their parties. 

The Democrat, edited and published by Mr. Thomas H. Mason, is 
a comparatively new candidate for patronage, it being established 
January 9, 1885. Mr. Mason is a young man of fine attainments and 
he publishes a very I'iespectable paper. 

Societies. — Jefferson Chapter No. 5, R. A. M. — About forty 
years ago Jerusalem Chapter, Koyal Arch Masons, obtained a charter 
from the Grand Chapter of the Commonwealth of Virginia, but it 
was permitted to partially lapse, and Jefferson County being attached 
to the new State of West Virginia so complicated the Masonic juris- 
diction that a new charter under the above name and number was 
obtained from the Grand Chapter of West Virginia in 1879. The 
membership of this chapter are among the best and most influential 
citizens of Jefferson County, 

Malta Lodge No. 80, A. F. & A. M. — This lodge obtained its 
charter about the year 1820, but was re-chartered by the Grand Lodge 
of West Virginia, December 28, 1872. It is very strong in member- 
ship and has a hall very tastefully and comfortably fitted up. They 
meet Friday nights before the full moon and two weeks following. 

Wildey Lodge No. 11, I. O. O. F. — This lodge was organized 
February 22, 1833, and was named after Past Grand Sire John Wildey 
of Baltimore, who introduced Odd Fellowship into the United States 
from England, where it originated. After the war the lodge Avas re- 
organized under the Grand Lodge of West Virginia, and the number 
changed to 27. It is in quite a prosperous condition. 

Olive Branch Encampment No. 16, I. O. O. F., was organized 
in Charlestown about 1847. Shenandoah Lodge No. 32, I. O. G. T., 
was organized November 3, 1875, and the Y. M. C. A. began opera- 
tions on December 12, 1880. 

Public Officers. — William L. Wilson, representative in Congress 
from Second West Virginia district. 



368 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Daniel B. Lucas, judge of supreme court of appeals of West Vir- 
ginia. 

Charles H. Knott, State senator, Thirteenth district. 

R. Preston Chew and Braxton D. Gibson, members of house of 
delegates. 

Members of county court — William H. T. Lewis, president; John 
Thomas Gibson, John G. Shirley, Lee H. Moler, Thomas B. Moore. 

Clerk of county court — Gerard D. Moore. 

Clerk of circuit court — Thomas W. Latimer. 

County surveyor — S. Howell Brown. <- 

Prosecuting attorney — Forrest W. Brown. 

Sheriff — Albert Davis. 

Deputy sheriffs — William A. Morgan, Eugene Baker. 

Sealer of weights and measures — V, M. Firor. 

Jailer — S. C. Young. 

Assessors — R. A. Alexander, C. H. Trail. 

Justices of the peace — C. Frank Gallaher, David Howell, D. S. 
Rentch, A. S. Link, Charles H. Briggs, W. J. Moler, George D. 
Johnson, Thomas Lock, B. F. Johnson. 

County superintendent of schools — Emanuel Schaeffer. 

County boards of education — Charlestown district: John T. Colston, 
president; A. B. Yates, S. S. Dalgarn, commissioners; George T. 
Light, secretary board. 

Shepherdstown district — Joseph McMurran, president ; N. 8. J. 
Strider, William Butler, commissioners. 

Harper's Ferry district — C. B. Wentzell, president; Richard Hen- 
derson, J. G. Flanagan, commissioners. 

Middleway district — John P. Kearfoot, president; M. E. Trussell, 
Samuel D. Engle, commissioners. 

Kabletown district — Thomas Lock, president ; Daniel Hefflebower, 
J. W. Roberts, commissioners. 

Charlestown Officials. — Mayor, Gustav Brown; recorder, W. L. 
Hedges; councilmen, G. Mason Hough, William Neill, D. S. Hughes, 
R. H. Phillips, Henry Damm, David Howell; solicitor, George Bay- 
lor; police-sergeant, Thomas B. Young. 

Practicing Lawyers. — Daniel B. Lucas, William H. Travers, 
George Baylor, James H. Grove, Cleon Moore, A. E. Kennedy, Jos- 
eph Trapnell, Frank Beckwith, George M. Beltzhoover, Forrest W. 
Brown, T. C. Green, Jr., Braxton D. Gibson, Jacob F. Engle, Samuel 
W. Washington, James D. Butt. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 369 

Cliarlesiown Gas Lighi Company. — President, George W. T. 
Kearsley; treasurer, David Howell; secretary, S. S. Dalgaru; super- 
intendent, O. M. Darlington. 

Charlestown Water Works Company. — President, R. Preston 
Chew; secretary, T. P. Lippitt; treasurer and superintendent, B. C. 
Washington. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

SHEPHERDSTOWN, MIDDLEWAY AND WIZARD CLIP. 

First Settlers — Kohonk-ou-roo-ta — The Germans — Establishment of 
Mecklenburg— A Ferry Contest— Partial Incorporation, 1793— The 
Trustee Form— The Act— First Officers— Some Well-Known Names— 
The Town Run— Posting and Railing the Streets— Two Newspapers, 
1795— Fire Engine of 1796— Additions to the Town— Change of Name 
TO SHEPHERDSTOWN— Trouble About the Run— Market House— Large 
Firms of islo- The "Cossack" Celebration— Incorporation— The 

"COMMONHALL" MUNICIPALITY— MAYOR HeNRY BoTELER— TOWN OFFI- 
CERS — A Peremptory Order and a Scare — Another Change in 
Charter— Religious and Educational— History of the Churches- 
Shepherd College— Societies— Morgan's Grove Fair— Newspapers- 
Towns AND Villages — The Famous Legend of the "Wizard Clip." 

AS heretofore stated, Shepherdstown can undoubtedly claim the 
honor (and with reasons entirely justifiable) of being the spot 
whereon the first settlers located when they crossed the Potomac at what 
was afterward known as the Old Packhorse Ford. The river was known 
at that early day, and for many years afterward, as the Cohongoroota, 
Cohongorooton, Cohongoluta, etc., all of them perversions of the 
original Indian sounds, or name, of that stream. " Kohonk-ou-roo-ta" — 
wild-goose stream, or "River of the Wild-Goose" — was so termed by 
the aborigines from the great number of wild-geese that lived upon 
its beautiful bosom, the note of that bird suggesting the fact — 
"Kohonk! Kohonk!" The year of the Indian is rated by the same 
term — so many "Kohouks," or returns of the wild-goose in his 
migrations. 

When the Germans came down from Pennsylvania and settled here 
they naturally lived in close proximity to each other, and for the usual 
reasons — mutual protection and the society of their fellow-man, for the 



370 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

human race is no exception to Nature's great law of attraction; no ex- 
ception to the universal custom of all living things: to huddle together. 
Man is essentially gregarious. Settling thus, together, the sons of 
Vaterland named their little nucleus of a village New Mecklenburg. 
The precise date of their arrival can not now be ascertained, for there 
was no court or records at the time in the valley of Virginia. The 
section where they settled and the entire beautiful valley stretching 
from the Potomac to the southern boundaries of the State, was a vast 
fertile and untrod (save by the Indian) wilderness. It was the 
outer edge of Spottsylvania County, so remote from the settlements in 
Eastern Virginia as to be thougrht useless and worthless. The lands 
were not for sale, and it was several years after these Germans came 
before even a "grant" was made by Gov. Gooch. Lord Fairfax had 
not as yet arrived in the colony of Virginia, and had not, possibly, 
the remotest conception of his immense estate between the Rivers 
Rappahannock and Potomac, comprising about 5,500,000 acres of the 
best land on earth. These Germans simply "squatted" on the rich 
tract of virgin soil about the present site of Shepherdstown, and when 
Richard ap Morgan, the Welshman, shortly after 1730 obtained his 
large grant from the colonial government, they paid for their farms, or 
claims, and received titles from him. Thus the ancestors of many of 
those who are now living on the" original tracts, purchased their 
farms as stated. What that little village of Mecklenburg was, is now 
beyond surmise, even. It was, of course, thoroughly German. They 
doubtless had their school-house and their place of worship, and the 
language of their fathers must have been universally spoken. This 
settlement, or beginning of a town, antedates Winchester by twenty 
years, 1727, or thereabouts, five years before the immortal Wash- 
ington was born! And here that little village stands, not very much 
larger than it was over one hundred and fifty years ago. But Thomas 
Shepherd came in and, purchasing laud, went to work to improve the 
picturesque little hamlet by the river. So, he posts himself off to 
Williamsburg and gets his town established, the General Assembly of 
the colony of Virginia in November, 1762, passing "An act for estab- 
lishing the town of Mecklenburg, in the County of Frederick," as 
follows : 

"I. WHEREAS, It is represented to this General Assembly of 
Virginia that Thomas Shepherd, of the County of Frederick, hath laid 
off about fifty acres of his land on Potowmack river, in the said county, 



JEFFEKSON COUNTY, 371 

into lots and streets for a town, and hath disposed of many of the said 
lots, the purchasers Avhereof have made their humble application that 
the said land may be established a town, being pleasantly and com- 
modiously situated for trade and commerce. ^ 

" Be it therefore enacted by the LieutenantpjSrovernor, Council and 
Burgesses of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby en- 
acted by the authority of the same, That the lots and streets so laid 
off on the said land be, and are hereby constituted, appointed, erected 
and established, a town, to be called by the name of Mecklenburg; 
and that the freeholders and inhabitants of the said town, so soon as 
they shall have built upon and saved their lots, according to the con- 
ditions of their deeds of conveyance, shall then be entitled to, and 
have and enjoy, the same privileges, rights and advantages, which 
the freeholders and inhabitants of other towns erected by act of as- 
sembly in this colony do at present enjoy." 

Shepherd, it will be noticed, retained the ancient name of Meck- 
lenburg, by which it was known for many years after the above act. 
In fact, when the town assumed the " Trustee " form of government 
in 1793 it was still called Mecklenburg, and so named in the act. It 
was only on its incorporation, after 1800, that the title Shepherd's 
Town came into use, 

I In October, 1765, an act of assembly gave Thomas Shepherd the 
privilege of establishing a ferry "from his land in the town of Meck- 
lenburg, in the county of Frederick, over Potowmack River, to his 
land opposite thereto in the province of Maryland ; the price for a man 
three pence, and for a horse the same." But the following year, 1766, 
this ferry was ordered by the General Assembly to be discontinued, 
" the same being at a very small distance from a ferry already estab- 
lished from the land of Thomas Swearingen over Potowmac river to 
Maryland." They did not permit any competition in those lordly old 
days, or perhaps Swearingen was a better lobbyist than Shepherd. 
Yet, it may have been unjust to Swearingen to permit a ferry so near 
to his, he having gone to the expense to establish it. 

j In November, 1766, public fairs were established at Mecklenburg 
by order of the General Assembly. Two were to be held annually: 
Second Wednesday in June and second Wednesday in October, to con- 
tinue two days each, "for the sale and vending of all manner of cattle, 
victuals, provisions, goods, wares and merchandise whatsoever."; In 
October, 1778, the General Assembly prohibited by act hogs running 
at large in Mecklenburg, and it was lawful to kill any swine so run- 



372 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

niiDg at large, but the slayer was not to convert the meat of the dead 
hog to his own nse ; he had to notify the owner. 

. The town continuing to grow the citizens were ambitious of ruling 
their own interests; to have the power to improve their streets; and 
to make all necessary repairs to roadways leading to the town, and to 
the ferry-landing ; they therefore petitioned the General Assembly to 
place them under the "Trustee" form of government — a kind of half 
incorporation — so the following act was passed: 

" An Act of the General Assembly of Virginia concerning the Town of 
Mecklenburg, in the County of Berkeley, passed December 2,1793. 
" Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that it shall 
be lawful for the freeholders, housekeepers and free male persons above 
the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been resident in the town 
of Mecklenburg and county of Berkeley, one year next preceding the 
election, to meet in some convenient place in the said town annually, 
on the first Monday in April, and then and there elect seven fit and 
able men, being freeholders and inhabitants of the town, to serve as 
trustees thereof, and the persons so elected shall proceed to choose out 
of their own body, a president whose authorities shall continue until 
the first Monday in April in the year succeeding, and no longer unless 
when re-elected. Every trustee before he enters upon the execution of 
the duties required by this act, shall make oath or affirm before a jus- 
tice of the peace for the said county, that he will faithfully perform, etc. 
" Sec. 2. The trustees of the said town of Mecklenburg, or a ma- 
jority of them, shall have power to keep the streets in said town in 
repair, as also the road from the said town to the ferry-landing, 
to have the footways in the town posted and paved at the ex- 
pense of the owners of lots and parts of lots fronting on the 
said streets, in case the owner shall refuse or neglect to post or pave 
the same, to remove nuisances out of the streets, alleys and public 
grounds of the said town, etc;" to determine disputes concerning lots, 
and the use of the mill-stream running through the town; to levy taxes 
not exceeding twenty-five cents on each tithable, and seventy-five cents 
on each hundred pounds worth of taxable property ; to purchase a fire 
engine; to appoint a clerk and collector; to meet once a month, etc. 

An election being held the ensuing April, as specified in the act, 
the result was the selection of the following gentlemen as trustees: 
Abraham Shepherd, Henry Bedinger, Conrad Byers, Jacob Haynes, 
John Morrow, Henry Line and William Chapline. At the first meet- 
ing in June the trustees being sworn by Joseph Swearingen, a justice 
of the peace, Abraham Shepherd was elected president of the body, 
and in July John Gooding was appointed clerk. Numerous rules and 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 373 

regulations for the government of the trustees were then formulated 
and passed. The first public business recorded was the complaint of 
John Morrow, executor of Thomas Shepherd, deceased, against Will- 
iam Brown for "refusing to let the executor take up the mill-stream 
in the lot of the defendant," a matter that seems to have been one of 
those disputes so common along streams where more than one mill is 
located. 

An era of improvement commenced at this time, as various meas- 
ures were taken to get things in proper form in the little village. 
Jacob Haynes was ordered to have cut a ditch in the meadow of Abra- 
ham Shepherd for the better flow of the water " into a sink-hole near Mr. 
Welch's brick yard," and that "the said Jacob Haynes do receive all 
private donations for that purpose" — a mode of defraying the expenses 
of a public improvement that does not obtain to any great extent in 
this progressive but selfish age. It was also " Ordered that twelve 
months from this date be allowed for posting and railing the footways 
on both sides of German Street, from Mill Street to Duke Street; also 
for posting and railing the footways on both sides of Princess Street, 
from Washington Street to John Woolford's house, near Rocky Street, 
and that convenient intervals be left for the passage from the doors into 
the streets, also at the corners of streets." The posts were " to be 
made of locust wood at least four inches thick and six inches in fereadth, 
and that the rails shall be at least three inches thick and five inches 
broad, and nowhere more than ten feet long, and that the posts rise 
three feet above the pavement," and that " the posts and rails be placed 
exactly ten feet into the streets and no further." Orders were passed 
against firing of guns or pistols in the town, galloping of horses 
through the streets, and hogs running at large. An idea of the popu- 
lation, or rather the value of the property in Shepherdstown at this date 
(1793), may be gleaned from the fact that §300 was the bond exacted 
from the collector of taxes. Maj. Henry Bedinger was appointed 
treasurer of the town. John Kearsley and Cato Moore were appointed 
a committee to expend the sum of $10 in the improvement of Wash- 
ington Street, and " exhibit to this court a statement of their accounts 
respecting the same." 

At the next election in April, 1795, the inhabitants met at the 
house of Mrs. Thornberry and elected John Kearsley, Abraham Shep- 
herd, John Morrow, Henry Bedinger, John Eoif, Jacob Haynes and 
John Brown. John Kearsley was elected president, and John Gooding 



37-t HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

was continued as clerk. There was considerable trouble with Mr. 
William Brown in regard to his damming up the mill-stream, for in 
addition to the executor of Thomas Shepherd complaining of the mat- 
ter, Richard Henderson entered suit against him and Philip Shutt and 
other inhabitants did the same. Geese, about this time, were placed 
upon the same footing as hogs had been placed and prohibited run- 
ning at large. 

The election of April, 1796, resulted in the choice of the following 
gentlemen: Henry Bedinger, Abraham Shepherd, John Kearsley, 
Jacob Haynes, John Hite, John Thornborough and John Morrow. 
John Kearsley was elected president of the board, and John Gooding 
clerk. In 1797 John Kearsley, Abraham Shepherd, John Morrow, 
Henry Bedinger, Jacob Haynes, Philip Shutt and Peter Smurr were 
elected, and John Morrow was selected by the board as president. At 
this date there were two newspapers, at least, published in Shepherds- 
town, for one of the orders of the board of trustees reads: "Ordered 
that Henry Bedinger cause to be published a notice in the newspapers 
of this town a petition, etc." 

In 1798 the General Assembly passed an act authorizing addi- 
tions to be made to Mecklenburg, said additions being laid ofiP on the 
lands of Henry Cookus, William Brown, John Morrow and Richard 
Henderson, also the ground lying immediately between the town and 
the water's edge of the Potomac River. At this time, also, the name 
was changed by act of the General Assembly from Mecklenburg to 
Shepherd's Town. In this year, at the April meeting of the trustees, 
Jacob Haynes was appointed to go to Lancaster to purchase a fire- 
engine, and the sum of $16 was appropriated to defray his expenses. 
The justices elected at the beginning of the current official year, April, 
were the same, with one or two exceptions, as the last, with John 
Kearsley as president. As an illustration of how the early city fathers 
economized in the matter of their outlays for public improvements, 
Martin Entler is ordered to be paid " eighty cents for making bridge 
on the road leading from Princess Street to the river," and Adam 
Myers sixty-seven cents for repairing a bridge on High Street. 

Elections were held every April till the change in the form of the 
government took place in 1820, but enough of the officers have been 
given to show who were the leading men of those days. In 1799 
John Kearsley had a tan-yard on the mill stream, and the owners of 
the mills laid complaint before the trustees that the said tan-yard was 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 375 

the means of keeping water from their mills, whereupon the trustees 
made a thorough examination, and after giving it their " serious con- 
sideration and most mature deliberation are of opinion that the said 
complaint is groundless and absurd." John Kearsley was president 
of this examining committee. 

Some trouble must have arisen between the manufacturer of the 
engine at Lancaster and the trustees, as an order appears in March, 
1800, to the efPect that Peter Zin is authorized to proceed to Lancas- 
ter and demand from Peter Getz the fire-engine they contracted for 
or refund the money paid him, with interest. Mr. Zin is furnished 
the munificent sum of $5 to defray his expenses to and from Lancaster. 
This year a market house was ordered to be built at the intersection 
of King with German streets, on the south side of the street (Ger- 
man ) . The funds were partly raised by public and partly by private 
subscription. The building was finished promptly, having been be- 
gun in June, and was ready for occupancy in August. Stalls were 
sold to the highest bidder for cash. John Baker, the noted con- 
gressman from this district, who afterward voted solidly with the 
minority in Congress against any of the war measures of 1812-14, 
was president of the trustees. He was the husband of Mrs. Ann 
Mark Baker, the little girl whom Rumsey helped on his steamboat 
in 1787, and who died not many years ago. The engine must have 
been received, but there is no note of it in the records, for Henry 
Line is ordered to build a house for it in May, 1801, on King street, 
at the distance of twelve feet from the market house. It appears 
that it was to arrive, but owing to a balance due on it, it was not 
sent. Walter B. Selby was then commissioned to procure it and pay 
at his discretion any sum he deemed just. The engine came at 
last, but was incomplete ; so Jacob Haines, the blacksmith, who had 
in 1786 helped Rumsey to make the iron work of his steamboat, 
was engaged to complete ye ancient "machine." 

In 1811, notwithstanding the evident progress that Shepherdstown 
was making in her commercial and manufacturing interests, there was 
considerable depression in money matters, and property was either de- 
creasing in value, or at an entire standstill. A great deal of land was 
thrown upon the market in order to raise money. Yet Shepherds- 
town had a number of large mercantile establishments, some of them 
having no rivals in the Valley. Among those doing large businesses 
may be mentioned James S. Lane, Bro. & Co., whose store was near 



376 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

the market house; Walter B. Selby, R. Worthingtou & Co., and other 
smaller concerns. Jacob Sensebough was a tailor, and Dr. John Bris- 
coe announced in a newspaper that " having settled in Shepherds-Town 
with a view of practicing physic, offers his professional services." In 
1812, Worthington, Cookus &. Co. advertised a large stock of goods, 
including 6,500 pounds of coffee and 50 barrels of whisky, also 
a large stock of books. James Brown & Co. open a large stock of 
goods, " including," as they say, " dry goods, school and other books, 
among which are ' A sero-ludricro-tragico-comico Tale,' written by 
' Thinks I to Myself, Who ? ' also, wines, brandy, spirits, Holland giu 
and rum." Charles Potter opens house painting, glazing and paper 
hanging business. In 1813, Selby & Swearingen kept all kinds of 
goods from " silk shawls and changeable lute strings " to " pine plank 
and bar iron." In 1814 Daniel Stailey, who had been keeping tavern 
for some time, transferred it to his son, Jacob Stailey. There were a 
number of other taverns. 

August 4, 1814, occurred the famous celebration, glorifying at the 
downfall of the great Napoleon, and known as the " Cossack celebra- 
tion." The paper from which these facts are gleaned says it was "for 
the celebration of the late glorious events in Europe, by which the 
deliverance of the world and the redemption of our own country 
from the fear of bondage has been accomplished." In addition to 
other toasts, toasts were drank to the " magnanimous Alexander of 
Russia;" "the memory of the great and venerable Kutusoff, the 
avenger of humanity;" "the illustrious Blucher and Schwartzen- 
berg;" " the restoration of the Bourbons;" "the fate of the remorse- 
less Napoleon ;" " the minority in Congress when war was declared " 
[against England] ; "the Emperor of Austria," etc. 

In 1819 tlie two large firms of James S. Lane & Towner and 
James S. Lane & Tapscott were conducting merchandising, and in 
1825 Tapscott & Thompson and Lane & Towner were merchants. 

In 1820, the town continuing to grow in importance, an act of the 
assembly was passed, at the request of the citizens, entitled " An act 
to amend an act entitled ' An act incorporating Shepherdstown in the 
county of Jefferson, and for other purposes; passed February 18, 
1820." 

" Whereas, Many inconveniences are experienced by the citizens 
of Shepherdstown, in the county of Jefferson, in consequence of 
defects in the charter incorporating said town, for reasons whereof, 



JEFFEESON COUNTY. 377 

" Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That it shall 
be lawful for the freeholders and house-keepers who shall have been 
resident in Shepherdstown three months next preceding an election, to 
meet at some convenient place in said town annually on the first Mon- 
day in April, and then and there nominate and elect by ballot twelve 
fit and able men, being freeholders and inhabitants of the town, to 
serve as Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and Common Councilmen for the 
same, and the persons so elected shall, within one week after the elec- 
tion, proceed to choose by ballot out of their own body one Mayor, one 
Recorder and four Aldermen ; the remaining six shall be Common Coun- 
cilmen, whose several authorities as Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and 
Common Councilmen shall continue until a new election shall have 
taken place, and those elected shall have qualified, 

" Sec. 2 is in regard to the several officers taking the oath to per- 
form their duties properly. 

" Sec. 3. That the Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and Common Coun- 
cilmen so elected and their successors shall be and are hereby made a 
body, politic and corporate, by the name of ' The Common Hall of 
Shepherdstown,' and by that name to have perpetual succession, with 
capacity to purchase, receive and possess lands and tenements, goods 
and chattels, either in fee or any less estate therein; and the same to 
give, grant, let, sell or assign again, and to plead and be impleaded, 
prosecute and defend all causes, complaints, actions real, personal and 
mixed, and to have one common seal and perpetual succession. 

" Sec. 4, That the Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen for the time 
being are hereby declared and constituted justices of the peace within 
the limits of the said town, which limits shall extend half a mile 
without and around the said town, and the like jurisdiction in all cases 
whatsoever originating within the limits aforesaid as the justices of 
the County Court, etc. 

" Sec. 5. That the said Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen, or any 
four of them (the Mayor or Recorder being one of them), shall have 
power to hold a Court of Hustings, etc., with the usual powers. 

" Secs. 6 and 7 are in regard to removals of officers, in regard to 
vacancies, etc., and Sec. 8 stipulates how the Common Hall are to be 
convened or summoned, and it is to consist of not less than eight of 
the twelve elected, who were called the ' commonhall.' 

" Sec. 9. Gives the powers of the ' commonhall.' They were to 
have all legislative jurisdiction; have power to build a court house. 



378 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

market house, work house, house of correction, jail and all other build- 
ings deemed necessary for the convenience or benefit of the town, to 
establish fire companies and purchase fire engines, to regulate and 
grade the streets and alleys of the town, to pave the same; lay and 
collect taxes. 

" Secs. 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, provide for the appointment of com- 
missioners of elections; mode of laying taxes; improvements; penal- 
ties, etc." 

At April court, 1820, the above act was ordered to be recorded, 
and at a commouhall of Shepherdstown, held on the 3d of April, 
1820, Henry Boteler was elected mayor; Thomas Toole, recorder; 
James S. Lane, John T. Cookus, John B. Henry and John G. Unseld, 
aldermen. At a court of hustings held the 3d of April, 1820, James 
Brown was elected clerk of the court; Lewis Wisenall, sergeant; Dan- 
iel Miller, constable, and Adam Heyser, coroner. 

From shortly after 1820 till 1839 the records of the proceedings 
of the authorities of Shepherdstown by some means or other have 
been lost, but during that time a change occurred from the election of 
twelve councilmen to ten. A number of gentlemen well known in the 
history of the ancient village occupied the positions of mayor, re- 
corder and aldermen, and among those was Col. John F. Hamtramck, 
a Mexican war veteran, and after whom the famous " Hamtramck 
Guards" were named. He was mayor from 1850 till the fall of 1854, 
when he resigned. 

Very little of more than ordinary consequence transpired until the 
Civil war period is reached. At the beginning of the great conflict it 
will be remembered that Federal troops were stationed along the Po- 
tomac on the Maryland side of the river opposite Shepherdstown, and 
some reckless persons had fired across at the Federal pickets. In 
consequence of this firing, the mayor of the town received the fol- 
lowing : 

Hd-Qrs. 12th Kegt. Ind. Volunteers, 

Dec. 29, 1861. 
John Eeynolds (Mayor), Shepherdstown, Va. 

Sir: This is to notify you that if the firing upon the pickets from 
Shepherdstown is not desisted in I shall be under the necessity of 
shelling your town. I shall deplore resorting to so severe a measure 
on account of the women and children that may be injured or driven 
out; but I am satisfied that yourself and the citizens can prevent it if 
you wish. Be assured that I shall do just what I say, and if any of 



JEFFEESON COUNTY. 379 

my men are killed or iDJured by those skulkers firing upon tb«m, I 
shall take ample vengeance. Very respectfully, 

W. H. Link, Col, 
12th Reg. Ind. Volunteers. 

This shot from the enemy gave the village a scare that brought 
together the city fathers in double quick time. They passed resolu- 
tions deploring the firing of irresponsible parties, and ordered strict 
measures to be enforced against any one who should be guilty of the 
act. They also prohibited the sale of liquor in the town. Appointed 
a committee of vigilance to assist the town sergeant. The mayor 
stated that a party had been caught and would be severely dealt with 
for having fired across the river. These resolutions were, of course, 
forwarded to Col. Link, and the mayor closed his communication to 
that officer with the following: 

Our town is filled with widows and children, most of them poor, 
and the entire population are non-combatants. If under these circum- 
stances and in spite of our pledges and utmost vigilance some reckless 
or malignant person shall elude our vigilance and select this place 
from which to fire across the river, and from my knowledge of the 
people, civil and military, I can give assurance in advance that no 
other will. We solemnly protest in the name of humanity and before 
the world against vengeance being wreaked upon the innocent, the 
unprotected and the unoffending. John Reynolds, Maiior. 

In 1882 J. H. Zittle and other citizens petitioned the Circuit Court 
to confer upon Shepherdstown a modification in the provisions of the 
charter of incorporation, by which the mayor and recorder might be 
elected direct, instead of by the selection of the councilmen, as had 
been the law from 1816; also for reducing the number of councilmen 
to five, and to change the date of election from the first Monday in 
April to the second Monday in March. Judge Charles James Faulk- 
ner, Jr., granted the petition, and at the election following in March, 
1883, B. F. Harrison was elected mayor, and J. S. Fleming, recorder. 
The present corporate officers (1889) are: G. W. Humrickliouse, mayor; 
J. N. Trussell, recorder; James W. Kerney, J. W. B. Frazier, Joseph 
L. Cookus, John P. Hill and H. F. Barnhart, councilmen. 

RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL. 

When the Germans came to the vicinity of the spot where now 
stands Shepherdstown, they brought with them their religious customs 
and reverence for the worship of the Divine Master. Without religious 



880 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

services those pious old emigrants and followers of Lutlier would have 
thought their lot hard, indeed. They may not have had for many 
years after their settlement here, a house set apart specially for serv- 
ice, but they undoubtedly had prayer meetings and exhortations by 
those best gifted with the power of preaching. And they doubtless 
were visited occasionally by ministers from Pennsylvania, who held 
services at the cabins of the settlers. A well-authenticated tradition 
exists among the Lutherans of the Valley that Rev. Peter Muhlenburg, 
the father of the Rev. Muhlenburg who was rector of the Episcopal 
Church at Woodstock during the Revolutionary period, and who threw 
off his priest's gown for a Continental uniform, and fought gallantly in 
that struggle, preached at the little settlement of New Mecklenburg 
about 1729-30. Rev. Mr. Muhlenburg, Sr., as well as his famous 
son, was a highly educated and eminent minister of the Lutheran 
Church, having been graduated at the most noted theological schools 
of Europe. He paid several visits to Maryland and to the new set- 
tlement across the river in Virginia, and, as many of the Germans, who 
reared their rude cabins here, were from the section of Pennsylvania 
where Mr. Muhlenburg ministered, it is entirely natural that he should 
have paid a visit to his old friends.* This being the case, the Lu- 
therans can claim the honor of instituting the first religious services 
in the Valley of Virginia. 

Lutheran Church. — The first regular congregation, with a house 
of worship, in New Mecklenburg was not organized till 1750-GO, and 
the first regular pastor called was Rev. Mr. Bauer, about 1776. He 
served the congregation several years, and was followed by Rev. Mr, 
Wiltbahn, who remained three years; then came Mr. Nichodemus, 
seven years; George Young, four years, and Mr. Weyman, three years. 
About 1790 Rev. Christian Streit, who had located in Winchester, 
and who was serving the congregation at Martinsburg and several 
other points, took charge of the church here and visited it regularly 
for a number of years. Rev. David Young, of Pennsylvania, succeeded 
Mr, Streit, and during that gentleman's pastorate, in 1795, the corner- 

* As imieli misapprehension lias existed in regard to tlie denomination to wliii'li Oen. Mulilenl)in'g 
belonged when he left the pulpit for the cause of his eountry, a word of explanation may be in place 
here. Iipiscoi)alian and Lutlieran have each claimed him. He was both. Having Ijeen educated as a 
Lutheran minister, he was called to the church at Woodstock, Shenandoah County, the mendiers of 
which were all ( Jermans and Lutherans. But Mr. Muhlenburg, ftndiug that the church could not pros- 
per without certain aid fnmi the government (English), he concluded to "conform "to the require- 
ments, and went over to England, took orders in the established church, returned and again became 
the pastor of the Woodstock church, using the Episcopal service, which at that time differed very little 
from that used by the strict Lutherans. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 381 

stone of the church was laid. Mr. Young dying, Eev. Frederick 
William Gausinska took charge of the congregation at the beginning 
of 1802. This gentleman's name appears in the records of the justices 
on December 8, 1801, where he is granted a license to administer the 
rite of marriage. He remained but a short time, which was during 
the period when the church was racked to its foundation with dissen- 
sions, induced in part, if not entirely, by the transition from the use 
of the German to the English language in the service. Mr. Gausin- 
ska was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Rabenach, who served several years, 
but the troubles in the church becoming so grievous, he left for an- 
other field. About 1818 Rev. John Kehler took charge, but only 
remained one year, when, on July 1, 1819, Rev. C. P. Krauth, the 
able and efficient minister, whose reputation at that day was wide- 
spread, became pastor of the charch, and soon spread the oil of his 
splendid abilities and kindliness of heart upon the troubled waters of 
the pertvirbed congregation. English services were established, and 
the church took a new start. Dr. Krauth served about eight years, 
and in 1827 Rev. Jacob Medtart took charge; 1835, Rev. Dr. Reuben 
Weier; 1837, Rev. Charles Martin, D. D. ; 1842, Rev. Samuel Sprecher; 
1843, Rev. Joseph Seiss; 1848, Rev. C. P. Krauth, Jr., son of the 
former pastor of that name; he remained only seven months, and was 
succeeded the same year by Rev. B. M. Schmucker; 1852, Rev. J. P. 
Smeltzer; 1860, Rev. J. J. Miller; 1860, Rev. J. F. Campbell; 1868, 
Rev. J. H. Bittle; 1872, Rev. Jacob Hawkins; 1875, Rev. R. H. Hol- 
land; 1878, Rev. D. M. Moser. During Mr. Bittle's pastorate the 
church was remodeled, and a neAv parsonage erected. 

Trinity Proiesiant Episcopal Church. — The history of the Epis- 
copal Church of Shepherdstown, if it had any existence before the 
Revolution of 1776), can not now be ascertained. It is altogether prob- 
able that no movement was made here till about 1780-85, for the in- 
habitants were mostly of German origin, and they followed the faith 
of their fathers, not the English church. A church edifice, however, 
was built about 1785, which was used until 1840, when it was replaced 
by another, which was used till the present fine structure was erected. 
From a sketch furnished several years ago by Mr. D. S. Bragonier, 
the following is taken: "April 5, 1859, Bishop Johns, of Virginia, 
consecrated the present church building, which was commenced in 
1855, and cost about $10,000. About ten years afterward a chapel 
was built on the church lot. Both of these buildings are of cut native 



382 HISTOllY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

stone, and, in connection with the rectory, are considered as fine 
church property as exists in the Shenandoah Valley. The church is 
located in the center of a lot, fronting 17 1 J feet on the main street, 
with a depth of 206 feet. The rectory is situated on an adjoining 
street. The church was built through the personal efforts of Rev. 
Charles W. Andrews, D. D., who was the rector in charge from 1842, 
until the date of his death, in May, 1875, a period of thirty-three 
years. He was a man who enjoyed a national celebrity, in the history 
of the Episcopal church, for his learning and piety, and highly esteemed 
for the good he accomplished in the community, both as a minister of 
the gospel and as a public-spirited citizen. The ministers in charge 
of the church, so far as known, are as follows: Revs. Sturges, Stubbs, 
Morgan Morgan (son of Morgan Morgan, Avho was instrumental in 
building the first Episcopal Church in the Valley of Virginia — -the Mill 
Creek church at Bunker Hill, in Berkeley County), Veasy, Wilson and 
Page, all prior to 1800. In 1800, Rev. Mr. Heath; in 1810, Rev. John 
Price (the last rector of St. George's chapel, the ruins of which now 
stand near Charlestown). After Rev. Mr, Price, until 1817, the church 
was without a regular minister, and at the latter date Rev. Benjamin 
Allen took charge, who was succeeded by Rev. Benjamin B. Smith, 
now the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church; in 1823, Rev. Alex- 
ander Jones, D. D., for fifteen years; 1840, Rev. J. H. Morrison, first 
resident pastor; 1842, Rev. Charles W. Andrews, D. D., until his 
death, in May, 1875; October, 1875, until December, 1880, Rev. John 
P. Hubard; June 1, 1881, Rev. L. R. Mason, the present rector in 
charge." 

Mcfhodist Episcojjal Churcli. — Although there was no church of 
this denomination in Shepherdstown until some time after 1800, there 
was no doubt occasional preaching by the itinerant ministers of the 
Methodists. They passed through this section of country on their 
way farther up the Valley, and in those early times the traveliDg 
preacher preached wherever he could get a congregation together. No 
opportunity was lost by those old pioneer workers in the vineyard of 
the Lord to sow good seed wherever they went, and as people in those 
days were only too glad to hear the word of God expounded, they 
were not over particular in insisting upon the exact style of creed of 
the church to which they held allegiance. They were " soldiers of 
the Lord," and it did not very much matter to them to what denom- 
ination their captain belonged, so that he was a godly man and a soul- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 383 

saving Christian. So it may safely be inferred that the preachers 
who carried Methodism way up above Winchester in 1775, scattered a 
few seeds along their pathway southward. The first organization, 
however, in Shepherdstown occurred about 1815, and the pulpit was 
supplied by the "circuit riders," as they were called, who came 
monthly at first, and then every fortnight. The first house of wor- 
ship was a small brick building in the southwest part of the town. 
The names of some of the early ministers were: Revs. Boylston, 
James Monroe, Robert Caddon and James Larkin. The following are 
the names and dates of service of the ministers and presiding elders 
from 1840: David Thomas till 1841; 1841-42, S. S. Rossell; 1841-42, 
J. A. Collins, RE.; 1843-44, Joseph Plotner; 1845, John Guyer; 
1846-47, W. L. Spottswood; 1843-4(5, John Smith, P. E. ; 1845-49, 
John M. Green; 1850, John Brown; 1847-50, Henry Tarring, P. E. ; 
1851-52, John ^Y. Tongue; 1853-54, John S. Deale; 1851-54, 
George Hildt, P. E. ; 1855-56, Elias Welty. In 1857 Shepherdstown 
circuit was formed, and Revs. James H. March and Samuel V. Leech 
were the ministers; 1858, James H. March and Thomas Brielv; 
1855-57, William Hirst, P. E. ; 1859, Isaac Gibson and J. M. Little; 
1858-65, W. G. Eggleston, P. E. ; 1861, Solomon IMcMullen and J. 
M. Littell; 1862, Solomon McMullen. In 1864 the feelings engen- 
dered by the war caused a division in the church, and the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South was formed. In 1866 John M. Green was 
called; 1868-69, G. W. Feelerayer; 1870-71, Albert Jump; 1872, J. 
F. Ockermau; 1873-74, Henry Nice; 1875-77, John W. Smith; 
1878-80, DurbiuG. Miller; 1881-82, Charles O. Cook. 

Methodist Episcopal Church South. — Until 1864 the Methodists 
of Shepherdstown had but one church, but the war caused differences 
of opinion in church as well as other matters, and the close of the 
great conflict witnessed strife for the possession of the church prop- 
erty. Those who had remained " loyal to the flag," no matter what 
their numbers were, claimed the church property in consequence of 
that same loyalty, and the "other kind" of Methodists also laid claim 
to that which they alleged they had contributed most to build. The 
government was appealed to and the property was in most instances 
handed over to the " loyal " saints, through the Federal courts, but 
just exactly what the Government had to do with the squabble is not 
quite as plain as the nose on a man's face. True, Rev. Elisha Paine 
Phelps, sent down to Staunton, Va., to claim the churches for the loyal 



384 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

crowd, said before the congressional investigating committee of 1869 
-70 tliat "as the Northern Methodists had conquered the Southern 
Methodists just as the Northern soldiers had conquered the Southern 
soldiers," why of course the property belonged to his side. See! At 
any rate those Methodists who cast their fortunes with the Confeder- 
ates had no church wjien peace once more Avaved her white wings 
over this sunny land, so they set about building one, and by 1868 had 
completed a fine church that cost them $6,000, which has a member- 
'ship at present of over 300 souls. The following list comprises the 
presiding elders and ministers from the new departure in 1864: 1864- 
66, E. L. Kreglo; 1866, E. K. Veitch, P. E. ; 1867, W. S. Baird, P. 
E.; 1867-69, William G. Coe; 1870, W. C. Cross; 1871, J. B. Fitz- 
patrick; 1871-72, W. H. Wheelright, P. E. ; 1872-75, A. A. P. Neel; 
1874-76, Samuel Register, P. E. ; 1876-79, J. Lester Shipley; 1877- 
80, Nelson Head, P. E. ; 1880-82, ,W. G. Eggleston. 

Reformed Church. — This denomination is one of the oldest in the 
Valley, and they were originally known as Reformed Calvinists. Their 
history is coeval with the settlement of this section, and although 
they had no church here until a late day, yet they organized shortly 
after the American war, about 1781-82. This denomination claims to 
have built the old Opequon Church above Winchester, about 1740, 
but the claim is disputed by the Presbyterians. At Shepherdstown, 
however, they had a small, unpretentious church edifice before the be- 
ginning of the present century. Rev. Michael Slaughter conducted 
services here as early as 1780, and was followed by Dr. Charles Meyer, 
who perfected the organization and remained for a number of years. 
Since then the following ministers have had charge: Revs. L. Beecher, 
S. Staley, Robert Douglas, D. G. Bragonier, J. M. Titzell, D. D., 
Henry Wisler, H. Forney, J. T. Rossiter, J. C. Bowman; B. F. Baus- 
man resigned in spring of 1889, and the place is now vacant. 

Preshyterian Church. — There are no records in regard to this 
church of a very early date, but the denomination is one of the very 
oldest in the Valley, as has been shown in other portions of this work. 
The church, or rather, the church society, was organized in 1780 to 
1790. The first pastor, as far as can now be ascertained, was Rev. 
John Matthews, in 1818. Rev. E. C. Hutchison followed Mr. 
Matthews, and then came John T. Hargave, who ministered to the 
spiritual wants of his congregation from 1834 to 1852. Henry 
Matthews then came in charge, and was succeeded by Robert L. Mc- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 385 

Murran, and he in turn by E, W. Bedinger, who was followed by 
James A. Armstrong, Rev. Charles Gheislin. The present church 
edifice was erected in 1837. 

Catholic Church. — The Catholics are usually the pioneers in re- 
ligion in far distant countries; in sections where there is great hazard 
to life and health; and their missionaries may be found in all remote 
sections. It is claimed that some priests of this denomination had 
penetrated the Shenandoah Valley many years before any settlers had 
located here, that they had sought out the Indians, and had baptized 
them into the faith of Rome. One church, at least, was built in the 
Valley before the beginning of this century (at Winchester). A 
church was established at Harper's Ferry at an early day, but there 
has been none at Shepherdstowu. Now, however, there is one about 
to be built, which will make nine churches in a population of 1,600. 
The site of the new church has been well chosen, and a neat edifice 
will soon make its appearance. 

Colored Churches. — There are two colored churches here — Baptist 
and Methodist. The Baptist was established through the efforts of 
Miss Anna S. Dudley, who obtained sufficient contributions in addi- 
tion to her own gifts, to build and furnish the edifice. It cost about 
S2,500, and is a neat and comfortable structure. 

Shepherd College. — I'his institution was established and opened in 
1871 for the purpose of affording instruction to young men and women 
in the English branches, and building upon this foundation a prepara- 
tory course in the classics and higher mathematics. In 1873 the State 
established herein a branch of the State Normal School for the instruc- 
tion and training of teachers for the public schools of the State. It 
has been quite successful, and a large number of its normal grad- 
uates are now engaged in teaching, whilst many of the graduates of 
the college department are filling professional and other responsible 
positions with credit to themselves and honor to their alma mater. 
The curriculum of the institution is adapted to the requirements of 
the State in the preparation of the youth for the higher institutions 
of learning — the universities. The classical course embraces a period 
of four years, and the normal three years. Diplomas are granted: 
by the regents of diplomas with the title of Normal Graduate, and by 
the trustees of diplomas with the degree of Master of English Liter- 
ature. Both sexes are admitted to the schools, but no association 
within the institution is allowed, the students only coming together 
at recitations and public assemblages. 



38f) HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

The building is of brick, commodious and well adapted to school 
purposes, consisting of two large study halls and four recitation rooms, 
and is capable of accommodating 200 pupils. The main building was 
erected by the late B. D. Shepherd, and the two wings have since been 
added. The use of the building has been donated to the trustees by 
Mr. Shepherd Brooks, of Boston, grandson of the original proprietor. 

Other Schools. — The Shepherdstown graded school affords ample 
facilities for a good ordinary business education, free of charge, the 
course of study being equal to that of any academy or high school in 
almost any community, and ranks as high in the town as any other 
school of the same grade. It is well classified and well conducted, 
and the pupils who stand a satisfactory examination are given certifi- 
cates that will admit them to the college without further examination. 

There are also several private schools in the town, all well con- 
ducted, and a public school for colored children, with two competent 
teachers. 

Socieiies. — Mount Nebo Lodge No. 91, A. F. & A. M., was first or- 
ganized in Shepherdstown in 1811. They have a membership of sixty 
and occupy a hall in Billmyer's building. The lodge room is taste- 
fully arranged and fitted up at a cost of nearly ^500. They meet on 
the .first and third Monday nights of each month. 

Valley Encampment No. 6, I. O. O. F., was chartered December 5, 
1865. They meet on the first and third Mondays of each month. Cal- 
edonia Lodge No. 4, L O. O. F., was organized October 9, 1843, under 
the Grand Lodge of Virginia, but is now working under the Grand 
Lodge of West Virginia. They have a neat and comfortable hall over 
the market-house, and meet every Saturday night. 

Potomac Lodge No. 34, 1. O. G. T., was organized by D. L. Kentch 
and J. W. Magaha in 1876. The society was mainly influential in 
causing the town to go " dry " a few years ago, but it soon became 
" wet," and now it once more (1890) has lapsed to its " dry " condition. 
Young Men's Christian Association was organized in 1862, and has 
done much good work. It is non-sectarian, of course, and is helped 
in its work by all denominations of Protestant Christians. 

The fire department of Shepherdstown is a very efficient body of 
men. They have an excellent Silsby steam-engine, a hand-engine, 
two hose-reels, over a thousand feet of hose, and a hook and ladder 
truck, ladders, axes, etc. The Town Run and a number of cisterns 
afford an ample supply of water. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 387 

Morgan's Grove Agricultural Association is one of the most inter- 
esting and useful enterprises of the Valley of Virginia. It has already 
been of great benefit to the people of Jefferson County, as it gives a 
splendid opportunity for the interchange of ideas and commodities. 
It is, possibly, the only free agricultural show on earth. There is no 
admission fee to the public, and the funds to keep it up are obtained 
from an entrance charge to exhibitors, hawkers, hucksters, fakirs and 
people generally who get all the profit by selling their wares. This 
is just as it should be. It forces the rich agricultural-implement 
manufacturers and others to pay for the privilege of advertising their 
goods rather than to make the purchaser pay for the opportunity to 
see the article that he desires to purchase. The association was 
formed about six years ago, and was originally known as the " Mor- 
gan's Grove Colt Show," but it has outgrown its first modest pre- 
tensions, and is now attended by thousands from all sections of this 
and the adjoining States. The exhibit of September last (1889) was 
particularly fine, and the attendance very large, the number on the 
grounds on Thursday, the 5th, being computed at 10,000 persons. 

Shepherdstown is on the line of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, 
and five miles from the Baltimore & Ohio Road, and immediately 
opposite on the Maryland side of the river is the Chesapeake & 
Ohio Canal, running from Cumberland to Georgetown. There are 
turnpikes leading from the town to Charlestown, to Kearneysville and 
to Winchester; also good country roads to Martinsburg and other 
points. Running through the toAvn is a stream of water formed from 
the outflow of about a dozen springs, which has a fall of 100 feet in a 
very short distance. This run at one time operated three tanneries, 
three flouring-mills, two saw-mills, a cotton factory and a woolen-mill. 

In addition to the immense beds of limestone which have been 
quarried and burned into lime for the past seventy-five years, within 
sight of the town, there are valuable beds of hydraulic cement. The 
Potomac Cement Mills, a mile below town, have been for years manu- 
facturing large quantities of excellent cement, and the Antietam Ce- 
ment Company, recently formed, has a large steam-mill on the Mary- 
land side of the Potomac. 

As shown in the records of the town on a previous page, there must 
have been one or more newspapers published in Shepherdstown as 
early as about 1795, but who published them, and what they were 
named is not now easily ascertained; the oldest and best informed citi- 



388 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

zens can throw no lic^ht upon the subject; they seem to have been 
entirely forgotten. In 1815 the Amr)-ic((n Eagle was started by Max- 
well & Harper, and in 1823 John Alburtis, who had for many years 
published the Gazette of that town, removed to Shepherdstown and 
began the publication of the Journal. The Register was started in 
1849 by Hardy & McAuly, who published it till 1851, Avhen J. T. H. 
Bringman became proprietor, and continued till 1852, at which time 
■John H. Zittle became its proprietor, and published it for nearly thirty 
jears. In 1882 J. W. and H. L. Snyder purchased the establishment, 
continuing as that firm for some time. The paper is now conducted 
solely by Mr. H. L. Snyder, and is one of the best sheets published in 
the Shenandoah Valley. 

The Shepherdstown Bank, with Mr. Billmyer as president and 
Mr. B. F. Harrison as cashier, affords financial facilities ample for the 
accommodation of the public. There are a number of first-class mer- 
cantile establishments, all apparently doing a good business. 

TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 

Middleicay. — This ancient village, formerly known as Smithfield, 
and familiarly called " Wizard's Clip," or plain " Clip," for short, 
has a population of about 750 or 800 and is located seven miles south- 
west of Charlestown. Although the town was known as Smithfield, or 
Clip, before 1794, yet it was not regularly laid out till that date Avlien 
John Smith had it surveyed into lots. William Smith, the father of 
John, came to Virginia in 1729, having been granted, by Gov. Gooch, 
a large tract of land, wiiich he settled upon. There was, at a very 
early day, an Episcopal chapel at Smithfield, but the present church 
was organized in 1830, and Rev. Alexander Jones was the first rector, 
not stationary, however, only visitant. There are also here a Presby- 
terian, a Baptist and a Methodist Church. The town is noted far and 
wide as the spot where occurred the famous operations of the " clip- 
ping spooks," doubtless a clever piece of primitive hocus-pocus on the 
part of somebody who wanted to get some property at a low figure. 
The same game has been played at divers times and places outside of 
Virginia. But here's the yarn: 

Wizard Clip. — A Pennsylvanian, named Adam Livingston, came to 
the vicinity of Smithfield about 1790, and purchased seventy acres of 
land and a house and lot. He immediately proceeded to settle down 
and have a quiet, comfortable life of it, but alas, for his happy antici- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 391 

pations. They were all knocked into a cocked hat by the arrival at 
his humble domicile of a stranger, in 1794, who, after being entertained 
as a boarder for some time, fell sick. Now, Mr. Livingston was a 
Protestant of the tight-laced order, so runs the tale, and when the sick 
stranger informed the host that he was a Catholic, the said host was 
horrified in the extreme, but when the request was made that he would 
like to have a Catholic priest visit him, the landlord nearly went off 
into a " conniption fit." He, Livingston, calmly but pointedly, informed 
the Papist that there was no Catholic priest in that neck of woods, 
and if there had been that he should never darken his doors. The 
dying man repeated his request, for the sake of his soul, to try and 
get him some one to shrive him ere he launched into eternity, but no 
attention was paid to the prayers of the sinking stranger, and he was 
permitted to sail without his passport. But the heartless Livingston 
paid dearly for his ungodliness — he was destined to rue the day he 
refused so reasonable a request. The night of the death, Jacob Foster 
was employed to act as wakesman to the corpse, but the solitary man 
comprising the wake had scarcely entered the room of death before 
the tallow-dip he placed on a table flickered and went out. Other 
candles were tried, and they all refused to give light on the subject. 
Foster began to think tolerably hard about this mysterious " dausing 
o'the glim," and he left the premises something after the style of Tam 
O'Shanter. The next night operations were commenced in earnest: 
horses were heard galloping around the house, but there were no 
horses to be seen, not even a nightmare. These little idiosyncrasies 
of the offended spirit of the stranger might have been overlooked, but 
something more cereous than the going out of a candle soon happened : 
the following week Livingston's barn was burned to the ground and 
his cattle all died. The crockery in his house took a tumble, his fur- 
niture would have a midnight dance, his money disappeared, the 
heads of his fowls all dropped off, and burning coals would leap from 
the fire-place and ricochet all around the room. The sound as of 
shears in the act of clipping could be heard, and his blankets, sheets, 
boots, clothing and saddles would be all clipped — all cut to the shape 
of a crescent. This continued for several months, and the vengeance 
was not visited alone upon Livingston, for an old lady of Martinsburg, 
it is claimed, who went over to the " Clip " for the express purpose of 
testing the truth of these wonderful misdoings of the bad spirits, had 
a nice silk cap all cut to ribbons, and she had taken the precaution to 



392 HISTOKY OF THE LOWEE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

carefully wrap np and stow away in her pocket the unfortunate head- 
gear. An old writer states that Livingston "lost much rest," so he 
applied to some conjurers, but they could not lay the ghosts. Then 
the wretched subject of these annoyances had a dream (that's the way 
the novels always get in the explanation). In this dream Livingston 
was climbing a high mountain, catching at roots and bushes and 
things, but he got to the summit at last, and he saw an imposing 
figure dressed in robes, and somebody, in a stage whisper, said " This 
is the man who can relieve you." He awoke the next morning and 
resolved to go to Winchester and get Mr. Alexander Balmaine, the 
rector of the parish, as he wore "robes." But the Episcopal clergy- 
man did not come up to the description of the person he had seen in 
his dream, so he gave up that idea. He then applied to a Catholic 
family, who advised him to go to Shepherdstown the following Sun- 
day and see a priest who would be there. He went, and met Father 
Dennis Cahill, who accompanied him home and tried to exorcise the 
spirit by simple sprinkling of holy water, but this spirit was none of 
your ordinary holy- water spirits — oh, no! Father Cahill had to say 
mass before the "ghost would lay." But it fetched him, and he has 
never been heard of since. The stranger is now, possibly, a full- 
fledged angel. What became of Livingston? Oh, he conveyed the 
"Clip" property to somebody who happened to want it, and went back 
to Pennsylvania to live, a wiser but a poorer man. 

The above facts, or alleged facts, have so often been written that 
the writer refrains from further detail. The miracle, or rather the 
story, as given in our own language, appears in a number of Catholic 
publications, and it is said that it is believed by many persons. One 
old chronicler of the legend, to clinch the truth of his statement and to 
place it beyond any doubt whatever, winds up his proofs with the fol- 
lowing irrefragible evidence: "Fifty years ago the grave of the 
stranger could be distinctly pointed out." 

Bolivar is a village containing about 350 inhabitants, and lies west 
of Harper's Ferry three-fourths of a mile. It is incorporated and has 
considerable trade. During the late war it was the scene of many 
conflicts, and the heights near it were almost constantly occupied by 
soldiers of one army or the other. It has a very neat Methodist 
Church, also a colored Methodist Church, and several other creditable 
structures, including a printing office. The scenery surrounding 
Bolivar, like that of the Ferry, is grand. 



JEFFEESON COUNTY. 398 

Leeiown, named in honor of Gen. Charles Lee, who settled upon 
this spot, and near where Gen. Horatio Gates resided, became a vil- 
lage after the death of the brilliant and over-ambitious soldier. It 
came gradually to bear the name of Lee from his having lived there, 
but was never established as a town. There is a large spring upon the 
old Lee plantation which for one hundred and twenty-five years has 
furnished fine water power. 

HalUown contains not much over 100 inhabitants, but a large busi- 
ness is conducted there. It is the site of the Virginia Paper Mills 
where are manufactured immense quantities of strawboard. The vil- 
lage was named in honor of Capt. John H. Hall, of Hall's Rifle 
Works at Harper's Ferry, and was located about the time of the com- 
pletion of the Valley branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 
which passes through it. There is a church, school-house, depot, 
post-office, stores, etc., here, and it is a very flourishing little hamlet. 

Kabletown is situated about seven miles south of Charlestown, not 
far from the Shenandoah River, and on the Bullskin Creek. It is an 
old settlement, and there was a fine mill there before the Revolution 
of 1776. Daniel Kable was an early settler, and it was called after 
him. The village is situated in one of the richest sections of the 
country, the lands simply having no superior anywhere. 

DuffielcVs Depof is a station on the line of the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railroad, six miles from Harper's Ferry, and is a point where a large 
portion of the produce of the northern section of Jefferson County 
has been shipped from. It has a church and the usual comple- 
ment of stores, shops, etc. The population is about 125. 

Shenandoah Junciion is a rapidly improving little village on the 
line and established at the opening of the Shenandoah Valley Rail- 
road, midway between Charlestown and Shepherdstown. Fine build- 
ings are constantly going up, and it is gaining in importance with 
every day. 

Riljpon is a very pleasant little village, situated about six miles 
from Charlestown, and three-fourths of a mile from the Shenandoah 
Valley Railroad, where there is a depot. It contains an Episcopal 
Church, several stores and shops, and another church, Presbyterian, 
is located about one mile from the village, on the Bullskin. The 
Charlestown and Berryville turnpike passes through Rippon, and is 
the great thoroughfare for that section of country. 

Summit Point is five miles southwest of Charlestown, on the Val- 



394 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

ley branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and is a growing village. 
It is situated in the midst of one of the best agricultural districts of 
Jefferson and Frederick Counties, and is the shipping point for great 
quantities of grain and produce. Its neat and business-like appear- 
ance indicates the enterprise of its citizens. 

Mechanicsville lies about four miles southeast of Charlestown, has 
a couple of stores, two churches, shops, etc., and several neat dwellings. 
Myerstoivn and Uvilla are small villages, containing each stores, shops, 
etc. The first is located about a mile from Kabletown, near the river, 
and the other between Shepherdstown and Duffield's depot. 



CHAPTER XX. * 

JAMES RUMSEY, INVENTOR OF THE STEAMBOAT. 

Something About Steamboats in General— Dreams and Crude At- 
tempts— Blasco DE (lARAY— Worcester, Papin, Hulls, etc.— Birth of 
RuMSEY — Early Efforts- As a Soldier— Petition of 1783 — Pipe 
Boiler— Other Machines — Rumsey's Struggles — Proofs of Priority— 
The Boat of 1783— In Bath— Petition to Virginia— Testimony of 
Gen. Washington — His Advice— .John Fitch— His Admission— The 
Secret Trial— The Steamer at Shenandoah Falls— Its Mishaps- 
Removal to Shepherdstown— Washington's Letter— Second Trial- 
Eye Witnesses— The Public Trial Trip— Graphic Description from 
First Hands— The Spectators and Passengers— Successful Sail- 
Some Well-Known Observers— Second Public Trial— Incontestible 
Proof— The Rumseian Society— Description of Boat — Rumsey Goes 
to England— His Success and His Sad Death— Robbed of His Hon- 
ors—Fulton's Pretensions- Congressional Medal to the Inventor. 

IN view of the vast and varied advantages that have been derived 
from the invention of the steamboat, to say nothing of the benefits 
and blessings, it is destined hereafter to disseminate, it becomes a 
matter of much importance to inquire into the circumstances of its 
origin, and to ascertain the name of its author; not for the gratifica- 
tion of a mere antiquarian curiosity, but in the vindication of truth 
and justice, to establish, if possible, on a secure basis, an interesting 
historical fact concerning which the prejudices of national pride and 

* The editor of this worlv is iiulelitecl to Hon. Alexander R. Boteler, of Shepherdstown, W. Va., 
for the main facts contained in this eliapter. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 395 

the partialities of individual friendship, have caused many conjflicting 
statements to be made, and consequently, the most erroneous impres- 
sions to prevail. 

It is well known that the high honor of having originated the 
steamboat has been claimed for different nations as well as in behalf 
of various individuals, and that the vexed question to whom it right- 
fully belongs continues to be as much a mooted point as it ever was. 
Yet, being a question of evidence and not of mere speculative opin- 
ion, it is hoped that the facts set forth in the following pages will 
serve, in some degree at least, to dissipate the doubts that have so 
long obscured the subject, and induce the conviction that the first suc- 
cessful application of steam to the practical purposes of navigation 
were made upon the River Potomac at Shepherdstown, Va., by James 
RuMSEY, a citizen of that place; that they were made there more than 
twenty years before Robert Fulton's experiments upon the Hudson, 
and many mouths before John Fitch, the contemporary rival of Rum- 
sey, had ever heard or imagined that steam could be used for any use- 
ful purposes whatsoever. But before submitting the evidence to 
prove the priority of James Rumsey to the successful application of 
steam as a propelling power to boats, it is proper to mention those 
who preceded him in making experiments for the same purpose and to 
learn what they did in that direction, so as to know the nature of their 
respective claims to having originated the invention. 

While there is every reason to believe that the idea of steam pro- 
pulsion was an original conception in the mind of Rumsey himself, it 
is not claimed for him that he was, by any means, the first to suggest 
its practicability, as we know that it had long before occurred to oth- 
ers, none of whom, however, had anticipated him in solving the prob- 
lem involved in the idea which had puzzled the philosophers and 
mechanical engineers of Europe for centuries. Many persons had pre- 
viously believed that boats might be made to move by force of steam, 
as many persons have believed, and still more at present believe, that 
the navigation of the air is practicable, yet no one could rightfully 
claim priority against the inventor of a vessel which would success- 
fully accomplish that feat. Friar Bacon seems to have thought that 
some means other than sails or oars could be devised for proj^elling 
vessels, as he wrote in the thirteenth century, that " instruments may 
be made by which the largest ships, with only one man guiding them, 
will be carried with greater velocity than if they were full of sailors. 



390 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

etc." So, too, perhaps thought Vasco Lobejro, the author of the medi- 
aeval romance of " Amadis de Gaul," Avheii he described his heroine 
as flying across the sea in a fiery ship whose course could be traced 
by its flames at night and its smoke by day. But these were only 
dreams of the old romancers, coincidental fancies. 

Blasco de Garay, a Spaniard, is said to have moved a vessel by 
steam as early as 1543, in the harbor of Barcelona, and in the presence 
of the emperor, Charles V., but the story is generally regarded as 
apochryphal, being based on authority of doubtful authenticity. It 
first appeared as a foot-note in the initial volume of Navarette's collec- 
tion of voyages, which was published at Madrid in 1825, and rests 
entirely on the unfounded allegation of a certain Thomas Gonzales, 
who wrote a letter to Navarette in which the statement is made. He 
asserted that he had seen manuscripts in the royal archives at Sar- 
maucas, among the public papers of Catalonia, giving an account of 
the vessel, but no contemporary proofs have ever been found to sus- 
tain the truth of the statement, and no tradition exists in Spain or 
elsewhere on the subject. 

The next to whom the invention has been ascribed is the Marquis 
of Worcester, but the claim is almost as doubtful as that of Blasco de 
Garay, for it rests upon an anonymous pamphlet of which the Marquis 
is supposed to have been the author, published in 1651 at London, 
under the title of " Inventions of Engines of Motion Recently brought 
to Perfection," in which the writer, speaking of the propulsion of boats, 
makes "an indefinite reference to what may have been the steam- 
engine." A number of such pamphlets on various allied subjects 
were issued about the date named, but there is no evidence that any 
plan was devised or experiments made to apply steam to a vessel for 
propelling purposes. 

In addition to Spain and England, France presents her claim, in 
behalf of Dr. Denis Papiu, who, in 1690, proposed to use his piston 
engine " to drive paddle-wheels to propel vessels," and who, in 1707, 
applied his pumping engine to a model boat on the Fulda at Cassel, 
but the mode of its application prevented its being successful. Though 
the pump was worked by steam, it was used simply to raise the water 
which, by falling into the buckets of an overshot wheel to which a set 
of paddles was attached, thereby constituted the motor for the move- 
ment of the vessel. 

In 1737 Jonathan Hulls of England published a pamphlet de- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 397 

scribiDg a method for propelling a vessel by steam for which he had 
secured a patent. He proposed to place a wheel at the stern, as 
"water-fowl pushed their web-feet behind them when swimming." 
He further proposed to use an atmospheric steam engine and to obtain 
a rotary motion for the stern-wheel by an arrangement of cords and 
pulleys. There is no evidence to show that he ever put the plan to 
the test of an experiment, though tradition asserts that " he made a 
model which he tried with such ill success as to prevent any further 
prosecution of his design." 

In 1757 Bernonilli, a Frenchman, and Genevois, a Swiss, made 
experiments in steam propulsion: the first using a kind of artificial 
fin and the latter " the duck's foot" propeller, but the results were not 
satisfactory in either case and the attempts were abandoned. In 1763 
William Henry, of Chester County, Penn., is said to have constructed 
a model boat, which he proposed to move by steam, but he failed in 
his efforts, and nothing came of it. In 1774 the Comte d'Auxeron, 
of France, with the aid of his countryman, M. Perier, launched a boat 
in the Seine, which they tried to have propelled by steam, but did not 
succeed, and in the following year M. Perier built another boat, which 
he tried independently, but with no better success than formerly. In 
1778 and again in 1781-82, the French Marquis de Jouffroy made 
some encouraging experiments with the " duck-foot " propeller on a 
vessel of considerable size, but political disturbances driving him from 
his country, put an abrupt termination to his labors without any prac- 
tical result. The foregoing are the only known endeavors to construct 
a steamboat, up to the date last named, shortly after which the exper- 
iments of James Rumsey began, a brief sketch of whose life and labors 
the editor hopes to present from undoubted and authentic sources. 

James Rumsey was born on " Bohemia Manor," Cecil county, 
Md., in 1743. His father was a farmer of limited means and with a 
large family and was unable to give his children more than the benefit 
of the ordinary home schools, but the few elementary grains of knowl- 
edge thus implanted in Rumsey's mind were as " seed sown on good 
ground." Naturally gifted with a strong mind, a retentive memory 
and an indomitable will, he devoted every momeiat that could be 
spared to the acquisition of useful facts in various branches of knowl- 
edge, and especially in the physical sciences. He was what is termed 
a " natural mechanic," and in addition to his skill in agriculture, 
could handle the tools of a blacksmith and carpenter as well as though 
he had learned those trades. 



398 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

When the Revolutionary war broke out Rumsey was among the 
number of those who promptly volunteered. This fact was attested 
by Maj. Henry Bedinger, a Revolutionary patriot, who gave the in- 
formation to the gentleman from whom the writer received it. At the 
close of the war, in 1783, Rumsey established himself in the mercan- 
tile business with Nicholas Orrick as his partner, at the town of Bath, 
in what is now Morgan county, AV. Va. In 1784 he associated him- 
self also with Robert Throgmorton in a boarding-house enterprise for 
the better accommodation of visitors to the Springs, as may be seen 
by their advertisement in that year's file of the Maryland Gazette, 
published at Annapolis. It is claimed that as early as 1774, he had 
begun experiments with steam, but there exists no data in regard to 
the matter, but that he was engaged in his work several years before 
the fall of 1783 is shown by his petition to the Legislature of Mary- 
land, which is now on file at Annapolis, endorsed with the date of its 
reception and reference, to wit: " Read 11th Nov., 1783, and referred 
to the next session of Assembly :'''' The petition on file reads: 

"Your petitioner has been several years employed with unremitted 
attention and at great expense in inventing and bringing to perfection 
sundry machines and engines, namely one for propelling boats on the 
water by the power of steam, which has been already accomplished in 
experiment, etc., etc." 

Among the other "machines and engines" mentioned in the above 
petition, are an "Improvement upon Savary's Machine or Steam En- 
gine;" a "Pipe Boiler" for the more ample and easy generating of 
steam; an "Improvement upon Dr. Barker's Mill," a mode by which 
mill stones and other machinery requiring a circular or retrograde 
motion may be turned with a smaller quantity of water than by any 
plan yet used; and a "Cylindrical Saw Mill," to save waste of power 
required in machinery where alternate change of motion occurs. The 
mere mention of the above inventions gives an insight to James Rum- 
sey's mechanical acquirements, and sets at rest forever the idea 
charged upon him by Fitch's advocates that Rumsey obtained his 
mechanical ideas from him (Fitch). 

But it is in relation alone to his invention of the steamboat that 
we have now to deal, and in estimating the difiiculties he had to en- 
counter in its accomplishment, we must bear in mind that when he 
undertook the practical solution of the problem of steam navigation in 
accordance with his own previously formed conceptions, he had never 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 399 

seen a steam-engine, and that there were none on this side of the At- 
lantic, though some years before one had been imported to pump water 
from a copper mine in New York, which was no longer in operation 
and which Rumsey, probably, had never heard of. He had, it may be 
surmised, read some descriptive accounts of the engines of Savary and 
Newcomen, but it is questionable if he had ever seen an engraving 
of them, or had any knowledge of the European attempts to utilize 
them in the propulsion of boats. The then recent improvements of 
James Watt had not become known in our country, in consequence, 
largely, of the noii -intercourse of the two countries. To be "English, 
quite English, you know," was not as popular in those old patriotic 
days as it has become lately. Nor must it be forgotten that he lived 
remote from "the busy haunts of meu," at an isolated village in the 
midst of the mountains of western Virginia, cut off from all the usual 
sources of information on the subjects he held so dear, and with few 
friends to encourage him, but with many to sneer at him as a dreamer 
and speak of him as being the victim of an hallucination. In addition 
to these obstacles, Rumsey was poor, and his experiments required 
more money than he could control. It was, doubtless, with such feel- 
ings oppressing him that he wrote his preface to his short treatise on 
steam, published January 1, 1788, and entitled, 

A Pu^AN, or 

Shorf Treatise on the Applicaiion of Steam, 

whereby is clearly shown from 

Actual Experiments 

That Steam May be Applied to propel 

Boats or Vessels 

of any burthen against rapid currents 

With Great Velocity. 

The same principles are also introduced with 

Effect by a Macliine of a Simple and 

Cheap Construction for the pur- 
pose of raising water sufficient for the 
working of Grist or Saw Mills and for 
Watering Meadows and other 
Agricultural Purposes. 

By James Rumsey, 
of Berkeley County, Virginia. 

January 1, MDCCLXXXVIIL 



400 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

[Extract from the Preface.] 
"Those who have had the good fortune to discover a new machine 
or to make any material improvements on such as have already been 
discovered, must lay their account to encounter innumerable difficul- 
ties; they must arm themselves with patience to abide disappointments; 
to correct a thousand imperfections (^ which the trying hand of exper- 
ience alone can point out) ; to endure the smarting shafts of wit, and 
what is pei'haps more intolerable than all the rest put together (on 
the least failure of any experiments) to bear up against the heavy 
abuse and bitter scoffs of ill-natured ignorance. These never fail to 
represent the undertaker as an im poster and his motives most knavish. 
Happy for him if he escape with so gentle an application as that of 
madman. This is the fate of the unlucky projector even in the cities 
of Europe, where every material is at his command and every artificer 
at his service. A candid public will then consider my situation: 
Thrown by hard fate beyond the mountains and deprived of every ad- 
vantage which that great mover — money — produces, they will easily 
perceive how my difficulties have been multiplied, etc." 

But to return to Rumsey at Bath in 1783. Although very reticent 
with regard to his plans, there were a few of his friends to whom he 
confided them. Among these were his brother-in-law, Joseph Barns 
(who was subsequently his assistant and attorney-in-fact) ; Nicholas 
Orrick, his partner in the mercantile business; Robert Throgmorton, 
his associate in the boarding-house enterprise, and John Wilson, of 
Philadelphia, a highly respectable gentleman, who was one of the vis- 
itors at the Warm or Berkeley Springs in the summer of 1783. While 
there were others who knew partially of Rumsey' s plans, these four 
gentlemen are mentioned because their names appear in contemporary 
documents, and of these it is deemed necessary here to introduce the 
testimony of but one, that of John Wilson, who. having no business or 
personal connection with Rumsey, will be accepted as an entirely dis- 
interested witness. In the pamphlet quoted from previously, the fol- 
lowing certificates appear: 

"No. 15. 

"I do certify that Mr. James Rumsey, of Berkeley County, Vir- 
ginia, in a conversation I had with him at Warm Springs, in the lat- 
ter end of July, or beginning of August, 1783, told me that he intended 
to construct a boat to go by the power of steam, and pointed out the 
great expense it would save in water-carriage. 

"Philadelphia, July 4, 1788. "John Wilson." 

"No. 16. 
" I do certify that John Wilson, of Philadelphia, on his return from 



JEFFEK80N COUNTY. 401 

the Warm Springs, in the autumn of 1783, tohi me that Mr. James Rum- 

sey was about to construct a boat that would go by the strength of fire or 

steam, which he, the said Rurasey, intended to have completed soon. 

"Philadelphia, July 4, 1788. "Juliana Stewart." 

The boat was finished in the fall of the same year (1783). Her 
hull was built by Kumsey's brother-in-law, Joseph Barns, who was a 
carpenter by trade. The estimated capacity of the boat was about six 
tons burthen. Her boiler was a primitive affair, being simply an iron 
pot or kettle, such as is ordinarily used in the country for culinary pur- 
poses, with a lid or top placed on its mouth and " securely fastened 
there with bands, rivets and soft solder." The engine, which was 
constructed partly by the village blacksmith, but principally by Rum- 
sey himself, was upon the Newcomen, or "atmospheric" principle; 
its power being obtained by the weight of the air pressing on a piston 
beneath which a vacuum had been created by the condensation of the 
steam. The mode of propulsion was by means of a pump, worked by 
steam, which being placed toward the forward part of the boat drew 
up at each alternate stroke of the engine a quantity of water which, 
by the return or down stroke, was forced through a trunk at the bot- 
tom along the kelson, and out at the stern under the rudder. The 
impetus of the water rushing through the trunk against the exterior 
water of the river, drove the boat forward — the reaction of the efflu- 
ent water propelling her at a rate of speed commensurate with the 
power applied. 

During the construction of the boat and its machinery every pre- 
caution was taken to prevent the public knowing the parpose for which 
they were intended, and especially to conceal the particular kind of 
motive power to be used and its mode of application; so that most of 
the machinery was made in secret. When the time came for testing 
the invention by a practical experiment, the different parts of the en- 
gine were quietly taken from Bath to the boat which was moored to 
" the right bank of the Potomac," near the mouth of Sir John's Run.* 
Rumsey and Barns arranged the machinery on board without assist- 
ance from others, and as a further protection from prying curiosity, it 
was determined that when ready for the experimental test they would 
make it after dark, with no one present but Rumsey himself, and his 
two friends, Orrick and Barns. Accordingly the projjosed trial trip 

*So called after Sir John Sinclair, the uufortimate quartermaster of Braddock's forces, who was 
killed at his defeat, and who had encamped at the mouth of the rim when the ill-starred expedition was 
on its way to the West. ■ 



402 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

was made at uight some time in the month of October, 1783. In' 
consequence of some imperfection in the construction of his impro- 
vised machinery, which caused too much steam to escape, the exper- 
iment was not as successful as Rumsey expected it to be, and as it cer- 
tainly would have been with a more carefully constructed engine, but 
it was abundantly so to prove that the essential object of the test had 
been obtained. What the rate of speed was at this trial is not now 
known, but it must have been sufficient to satisfy Rumsey that steam 
propulsion was no longer a doubtful problem, and he set himself about 
protecting his interests. At that time there was no patent office of 
the Confederation nor any uniform system of laws in this country 
■upon the subject of patent rights, but each State in the exercise of its 
own sovereignty, granted exclusive rights to inventors under certain 
restrictions. Rumsey, therefore, prepared at once two petitions: one 
to the Legislature of his native State of Maryland, and the other to 
the General Assembly of his adopted State, Virginia, claiming from 
them the protection and encouragement which, as the son of one and 
citizen of the other, he had a right to ask from both, nor was he dis- 
appointed in his expectations. Both petitions were alike in substance, 
and a portion of one of them is here given: 

Petition of James Rumsey, of Berkeley County, in tJie State of Virginia. 

" Most respectfully showeth that your petitioner has been for 
several years employed with unremitted attention and at great expense, 
in inventing and bringing to perfection sundry machines and engines, 
namely: one for propelling boats on the water by the power of steam, 
which has already been accomplished in experiments on a boat of 
about six tons burthen ; another machine constructed on similar prin- 
ciples for raising water at a small expense, to be applied to the work- 
ing of mills of different kinds as well as to various useful ])urposes in 
agriculture ; two new invented boilers for generating steam, and also 
other machines, by means of which grist and saw-mills may be so im- 
proved in their construction by a very cheap and simple machine, as 
to require the application of much less water than is necessary in the 
common mode." 

The petition goes on to state the advantages to be derived from the 
invention to the public, and asks protection for a term of years, suffi- 
cient to compensate him for his outlay, and to give him honorable re- 
muneration in the exclusive right and use of his machines within the 
boundaries of the States he makes application to. 

On the back of the original of this petition, which, as already 
stated, is preserved in the archives of the Legislature of Maryland,. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 403 

at Annapolis, is the contemporary endorsement of the date of its pres- 
entation, and of the reference that was made of it: ^^ Head llih Nov. 
1783, and Referred to fhe next Session of tlie Assembly.'''' In corrobo- 
ration of this, see the letter of the Hon. Nicholas Watkins, Secretary 
of State for Maryland, dated "State Department, Annapolis, Md., 
November 26, 1849," published in House Document No. 189, XXVII 
Congress, Second Session, page 571, the same being the United States 
patent office report for 1849-50, mechanical part. 

At the next meeting of the Maryland Legislature, an act passed 
entitled: "An act to invest James Rumsey with an exclusive privilege 
and benefit of making and selling new invented boats on a model by 
him invented," the provisions of which were as follows: 

" Whereas, James Eumsey by his petition to this General As- 
sembly, hath set forth that he hath invented a plan for navigating 
boats against the currents of rapid rivers, at a very small expense, 
whereby great advantages will redound to the citizens of this State, 
and has prayed that an act may pass, vesting in him a sole and ex- 
clusive right, privilege and benefit in constructing, navigating and 
employing boats constructed after this new invented model, upon the 
creeks, rivers and bays within this State be granted to him, his heirs, 
executors, administrators and assigns for a limited time, and it appear- 
ing reasonable that the said James Rumsey should have the advantage 
of said invention. 

" Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, that the 
exclusive right, privilege and benefit of making, constructing and sell- 
ing within this State the said new invented boats or improvements 
upon the same plan, shall be and is hereby vested in the said James 
Rumsey, his executors, administrators and assigns, for and during the 
space of ten years from the end of this session of assembly." 

The act further imposes a penalty for violating Rumsey's rights, 
etc. The State of Virginia passed a similar act, as may be seen 
by reference to " Hening's Statutes at Large " of Virginia, Vol. 
XI, page 502." As a further illustration of the favorable opinion (to 
say nothing of the incontrovertible evidence it affords of the priority 
of the claim of the inventor) entertained of Rumsey's invention at 
that time, a testimonial is submitted of one who was no less com- 
petent to judge of its utility and value than cautious in committing 
himself to the commendation of doubtful projects and questionable 
schemes — the testimonial of George Washington, to whom Rumsey 
had exhibited a working model of his boat during the season of 1784 
at Bath (where the General had a summer cottage for the accommoda- 



404 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

tion of himself and family when visiting the Warm Springs) and 
whose attestation is as follows: 

" I have seen the model of Mr. Rnmsey's boats, constructed to 
work against the stream; examined the powers upon which it acts; 
been eye-witness to an actual experiment in running water of some 
rapidity, and give it as my opinion (although I had little faith before) 
that he has discovered the art of working boats by mechanism and 
small manual assistance against rapid currents; that the discovery is 
of vast importance may be of the greatest usefulness in our inland 
navigation, and if it succeeds (of which I have no doubt) that the 
value of it is greatly enhanced by the simplicity of the works which,, 
when seen and explained, may be executed by the most common 
mechanic. 

" Given under my hand at the town of Bath, County of Bei'keley^ 
in the State of Virginia, this 7th day of September, 1784. 

" George Washington.'" 

In the following spring, on the 10th of March, 1785, Rumsey 
wrote to Gen. Washington in relation to his steamboat, in which he 
says : 

" I have taken the greatest pains to perfect another kind of boat 
upon the principles I mentioned to you in Richmond in November 
last, and have the pleasure to inform you that I have brought it to 
great perfection. It is true it will cost something more than the other 
way, but when in use will be more manageable, and can be worked 
with as few hands. The power is immense, and I have quite con- 
vinced myself that boats of passage may be made to go against the 
current of the Mississippi or Ohio Rivers, or in the Gulf streams 
(from the Leeward totlie Windward Islands) from sixty to one hundred 
miles per day. I know Ihis will appear strange and improbable to 
many persons, yet I am ver}^ certain it may be performed; besides, it 
is simple (when understood) and is also strictly philosophical. The 
principles of this boat 1 am very cautious not to explain, as it would 
be easily executed by an ingenious person." 

In reply to the letter from which the foregoing is an extract, Wash- 
ington, a few days thereafter, wrote to Rumsey, expressing his great 
interest in his invention and saying: 

" It gives me much pleasure to find by your letter that you are not 
less sanguine in your boat project than when I saw you in Richmond, 
and that you have made such further discoveries as will render them 
more extensively useful than was first expected. You have my best 
wishes for the success of your plan." 

About the same time, on the 15th of March, 1785, Washington, in 
a letter from Mount Verhon to the Hon. Hugh Williamson, of Vir- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 405 

ginia, one of the members of Congress for that State, also wrote as 
follows, concerning Riimsej's invention. [See Sparks' " Life of 
Washington," Vol. 9, p. 405]: 

" Mr. McMeckin's explanation of the movements of Rumsey's boat 
is consonant to my ideas and waranted by the principles upon which 
it acts. ***** Further than this I am not at liberty to 
explain myself, but if a model or thing in miniature is a just repre- 
sentation of a greater object in practice, there is no doubt of the utility 
of the invention. A view of his model with the explanation, removed 
the principle doubt I ever had of the practicability of propelling 
against a stream by the aid of mechanical power, but as he wanted to 
avail himself of my introduction of it to the public attention, I chose 
previously to see the actual performance of the model in a descending 
stream before I passed my certificate, and having done so, all my 
doubts were satisfied." 

The documentary evidence thus far submitted has been given 
somewhat in detail, not only because of its intrinsic interest and un- 
questionable authenticity, but also to show what progress Rumsey had 
made with regard to his steamboat previous to the spring of 1785, 
when John Fitch, the contemporary rival of Rumsey, first began to 
think of the possibility of using steam as a propelling power in nav- 
igation, which was, according to his own admissions and those of his 
friends and biographers, not until sometime in the month of April, 
1785." 

" I confess," says Fitch, in his pamphlet published in Philadel- 
phia by Zachariah Poulson, Jr., in 1788, entitled " The Original Steam- 
boat Supported, etc.," " I confess the thought of a steamboat which 
first struck me by mere accident about the middle of April, 1785, has 
hitherto been very unfavorable to me." On page 4 of Charles Whit- 
tlesey's " Memoirs of John Fitch," which originally appeared in the 
February number for 1845 of the Western Literm^y Journal, he says: 

" Mr. Fitch conceived of a plan to move water-craft in April, 
1785. Returning one Sunday from church in the township of War- 
minster, Bucks Co., Penn., a chair — a riding vehicle with wheels — 
passed along the road. Reflecting upon its motion, he supposed it 
might be made to traverse the country by the force of steam. After 
a short time he concluded this to be impracticable and turned his 
thoughts upon a scheme of propelling vessels in water by the same 
agency." 

The foregoing is amply sufficient to prove that Fitch only began, 
to think of the idea of steam-propulsion in April, 1785, but one or 



406 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

two more extracts may be interesting as clinchers in favor of Rum- 
sey's claim as the original inventor of the steamboat. Mr. Whittlesey, 
on page 4 of the biography of Fitch, says: 

" The first with which we are acquainted in this country [speaking 
of the application of steam to vessels] took place in secret near Shep- 
herdstown, Va., during the fall of 1784. It was made by James Rum- 
sey, a native of Maryland and resident of Virginia, who had conceived 
the project in 1783. Rumsey's boat had a capacity of six tons, and 
was first set in motion privately during the darkness of the night, etc." 

The following certificate published by Fitch himself in his pam- 
phlet already spoken of, was to show that he (Fitch) could not be mis- 
taken about the date of his steam-conception. It was 1785, no sooner, 
no later; 

" I do certify that as I was returning from Neshammany meeting, 
some time in April, 1785, as near as I can recollect the time, when a 
gentleman and his wife passed by us in a riding-chair, he '(Fitch) 
immediately grew inattentive to what I said. Some time after he in- 
formed me that at that instant the first idea of a steamboat struck his 
mind. John Ogilby." 

A party by the name of James Scout is also brought forward by 
Fitch to prove that he (Fitch) told him of his having first conceived 
the idea of steam as a motor in April, 1785. Fitch also acknowledges 
in his own pamphlet that at the date given (1785) he had not the 
remotest conception that there was a steam-engine on earth. In the 
face of this it is proven by the acts of the Legislatures of Maryland 
and Virginia, and by the letters of Washington, that James Rumsey 
had for several years prior to 1785, not only been investigating the 
subject of steam, but had invented a number of machines worked by 
that force, and also had made experiments with boats propelled by the 
same power. Therefore, while fully granting to John Fitch all the 
credit justly due him for his ingenuity, and all the sympathy he de- 
serves for his misfortunes, let no one hereafter, who has any regard 
for the truth of history, presume to claim for Fitch, in view of the 
foregoing facts, that he anticipated Rumsey in the invention of the* 
steamboat. 

But to return to the incidents that led to the public trial by Rum- 
sey of a much improved boat: In May, 1785, he engaged his brother- 
in-law, Joseph Barns,'- to build another boat for him on the Upper 
Potomac at the mouth of Sir John's Run, of much larger dimensions 
than any he had previously used in his experiments. He was unable 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 407 

to give his personal attention to the construction of this boat because 
of the important duties of his position as secretary of the "Potomac 
Improvement Company," a company formed at the close of the Revo- 
lution to put in navigable condition the Potomac River from George- 
town to the junction of the Shenandoah River, by removing the rocks 
from a portion of the stream, and thereby forming a channel. The 
boat was well built by Mr. Barns, and was about fifty feet in length, 
with a proportionate breadth of beam. In December, 1785, she was 
taken down the river with Dr. McMechin (a friend of Rumsey's) and 
Mr. Barns on board, as far as Shenandoah Falls, now Harper's Ferry, 
where Rumsey was engaged for his company in superintending 'the 
clearing of obstructions. On her way down she was stopped at Shep- 
herdstown to take on certain portions of her machinery which had 
been made at that place — other parts of it having been manufactured 
at Baltimore, Frederick Town and the Antietam Iron Works in Mary- 
land. The object in taking the vessel to the Shenandoah Falls was 
for the purpose of having her machinery fitted under the supervision 
of Rumsey himself, he being closely engaged at that point, and it may 
have been inconvenient for him to leave his post. Shepherdstown was 
selected as the point for the trial trip, in consequence of the beautiful 
sheet of water in front of the town, and the fact that it was a town of 
some importance at the period; besides, in the vicinity a number of 
noted persons resided, many of them of historic fame and of high in- 
telligence. Shepherdstown also was the spot whereon the first settlers 
who entered the Valley had located. An additional and a very reason- 
able reason why this town should have the honor of witnessing this 
grandest of events was that it was then the place of Rumsey's resi- 
dence, he having moved his family from Bath to that town where, 
some time previously, he had married a Miss Morrow, a sister of " the 
three Morrows," as they were called, men of some note in their day; 
one of them a member of Congress and another becoming a governor of 
Ohio, he completing the trio of Shepherdtowners who became govern- 
ors of Ohio — Morrow, Tiffin and Worthington — all born and bred in 
the quaint little village near the Packhorse Ford. 

After the arrival of the boat at Shenandoah Falls there were una- 
voidable delays in getting some of the small but essential parts 
of the machinery which had been ordered from Baltimore, and in 
fitting others that had been made improperly, so that it was not until 
the first week in January, 1786, that everything was ready for the 

25 



408 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

boat to be taken up to Shepherdstown, but just then the weather sud- 
denly became severely cold, and the ice in the river obliged them to 
desist proceeding further that season. They took the machinery out 
and stored it in the cellar of Francis Hamilton, and hauled the boat 
up in the mouth of a run at Shenandoah Falls. During the winter of 
1785-86 Rumsey greatly improved his " tubular boiler.'' The first 
boiler had been made at Shepherdstown out of pipes about the size of 
gun-barrels. Male and female screws were cut in the ends, all the pipes 
joined together, and then the whole was bent around a saddler's collar- 
block, such as are used by harness-makers. The pipe thus formed 
was in shape somewhat approaching the worm of a still, though flat- 
tened at the sides. This was the rude steam generator, the best, pos- 
sibly, attainable at the period under ordinary circumstances. Early 
in February Eumsey received from Gen. Waishington the following let- 
ter, a copy of which may be found in the " Life and Correspondence 
of Washington," by Jared Sparks, Vol. 12, page 279: 

"Mt. Vernon, 31 Jan., 1786. 

"/Sir.- — If you have no cause to change your opinion respecting your 
mechanical boat, and reasons unknown to me do not exist to delay the 
exhibition of it, I would advise you to give it to the public as soon as 
It can be prepared conveniently. The postponement creates distrust 
in the public mind; it gives time also for the imagination to work, and 
this is assisted by a little dropping from one and something from an- 
other to whom you have disclosed the secret. Should a mechanical 
genius, therefore, hit upon your plan or something similar to it, I need 
not add that it would place you in an awkward situation and perhaps 
disconcert all your prospects concerning this useful discovery. For 
you are not, with your experience in life, now to learn that the shoul- 
ders of the public are too broad to feel the weight of the complaints of 
an individual or to regard promises if they find it convenient and have 
the show of plausibility on their side, to retract them. I will inform 
you further that many people in guessing your plan have come very 
near the mark, and that one who had something of a similar nature to 
offer to the public, wanted a certificate from me that it was different 
from yours. I told him that, as I was not at liberty to declare what 
your plan was, so I did not think it proper to say what it was not. 
Whatever maybe your determination after this hint, I have only to re- 
quest that my sentiments on the subject may be ascribed to friendly 
motives and taken in good part. 

" I should be glad to know the exact state in which my houses in 
Bath are. I have fifty pounds ready for which you may draw on me 
at any time, and I will settle for the Avhole as soon as possible. 

" Herewith you will receive a magazine containing estimates of the 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 409 

expenses o£ the canal in Scotland. It belongs to Mr. Johnson, who 
requested me to forward it to you. To him you will be pleased to re- 
turn the book when you have done with it. 

" With esteem and regard, 

"I am sir, &c., &c., 

"Geo. Washington." 

The allusion in this letter to the person who wanted Washington's 
certificate was meant for John Fitch, who had been very busy in the 
preceding fall trying to induce people to believe that he had been before 
Rumsey in the invention of a plan for steam propulsion applied to 
water craft! And this, too, notwithstanding the facts given to prove 
that previous to the middle of April in that year he had had no idea 
that steam ever had or ever could be used for any useful purpose what- 
ever; and that Rumsey, after years of patient investigation, had not 
only invented a plan for navigating boats by steam, but had proven 
its practicability in the presence of his friends, among whom he had 
the honor to include the illustrious Washington. 

Additional evidence is extant to prove the priority of Rumsey, in 
this matter, but enough has been given to convince the most skeptical. 
Fitch is supposed to have obtained his first ideas in regard to steam 
as applied to water craft, from Mr. Michael Bedinger, of Shepherds- 
town, who was in Kentucky on a surveying tour in 1784, and who 
imparted the secret of Rumsey to several friends in that Western coun- 
try, who in turn spoke of the matter to Fitch, who was also in Ken- 
tucky at that time, surveying for a map which he afterward published. 
This fact is supported by an affidavit of Michael Bedinger (a brother 
of Maj. Henry Bedinger, of Revolutionary fame). Shortly after this 
Kentucky information had been received by Fitch, he came to Shep- 
herdstown, and, it is asserted on good authority, was caught "peeping 
through a knot-hole into Rumsey's shop," and threatened with a coat 
of tar and feathers, if he did not leave the town instantly. He left. ' 
Nothing further, therefore, is required as evidence that James Rumsey 
was the first person to give to the world the invention that has brought 
the uttermost parts of the globe thousands of miles nearer to its 
centers. 

In March, 1786, the machinery of the boat which had been laid up 
for the winter in Mr. Hamilton's cellar was taken out and replaced in 
the boat, for the purpose of a trial trip to test a new tubular boiler 
which had been made during the winter. The trial was a private one ; 
only four persons being on board the boat besides Rumsey — Joseph 



410 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Barns, Charles Morrow, Dr. McMechin and Francis Hamilton, the 
latter taking the helm. This trial trip was after night, also. The boat 
steamed up the river against a rapid current, and although too much 
steam escaped at the joints of the boiler, the experiment was, in all 
other respects, entirely successful. It was decided, however, to con- 
struct a new boiler on the same plan, and then give the public trial as 
soon as possible, but his duties in connection with his position as 
superintendent of the Potomac Improvement Company were such that 
they prevented him from giving as much attention to his own affairs as 
he sliould have done. Before the end of the summer of 1786, however, 
the boat was in good trim, his brother-in-law. Barns, having attended 
to the matters required. But now a new and unforeseen disaster 
awaited him, for when at last Rumsey had been released for a time 
from his official engagements and was ready to start with his boat to 
Shepherdstown, there was a sudden rise in the river: one of those 
freshets so well kno^vn to those residing along the upper Potomac, 
which brings such disaster in its wake. The floating debris caught 
the unfortunate boat at her moorings, dragged her loose, and wrecked 
her upon the rocks. Thus another postponement was unavoidable, but 
having been accustomed to disappointments, he braced himself up for 
another attempt to "stare fate in the face, and by the spring of 1787 
the wrecked steamer was repaired, and before midsummer the most of 
the machinery was again in working order. In September she was 
ready for trial, and shortly after which was taken to Shepherdstown 
for public exhibition, which was finally arranged to take place on the 
3d of December, 1787, "in the presence of as many persons as were 
willing to witness it, everybody being invited to do so." 

As stated at the beginning of this chapter, the writer is indebted 
to the kindness of Col. Alex. R. Boteler for the main facts herein con- 
tained, but the following literal extracts from the matter furnished us 
are so graphic and beautiful, that it is a pleasure to have the oppor- 
tunity of offering them to the reader: 

" The writer having had the good fortune to be personally ac- 
quainted with several persons who were present when Rurasey's steam- 
boat made her first trial trip at Shepherdstown and having felt, from 
his boyhood, an abiding interest in the subject, took especial pains to 
obtain from them, individually, what they remembered of the occasion. 
Among the witnesses referred to, whom the writer knew and with 
whom, in his youth he frequently conversed about Rumsey and his 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 411 

invention, were the following, viz. : Mrs. Ann Baker, Mrs. Elinor 
Shepherd, Maj. Henry Bediuger, Capt. Jacob Haines, Michael Fouke 
and Peter Fisher. 

" Mrs. Baker, the first named above, was the daughter of Mr. John 
Mark (a respectable and successful merchant of Shepherdstown), the 
widow of Hon. John Baker (a member of Congress during the war of 
1812), and the mother-in-law of Gov. Thomas Walker Gilmor, of 
Virginia, who, when secretary of the navy, during Tyler's administra- 
tion, was killed on board the United States man-of-war ' Princeton,' 
by the bursting of Commodore Stockton's ' big gun,' the Peaceinakcr. 

" Mrs. Shepherd, the second lady named in the list, was the widow 
of Capt. Abram Shepherd, who was the son of Thomas Shepherd, after 
whom Shepherdstown was named and an officer of the Revolutionary 
war, having been one of that gallant band of volunteers who, when 
the news came to Virginia of the battles of Concord and Lexington, 
promptly marched to the relief of their Northern brethren, and were 
the first Southern soldiers who crossed the Potomac to their aid — • 
making their memorable 'Bee-line to Boston.' 

" Maj. Henry Bedinger, the third on the list, was likewise a Revo- 
lutionary officer, and also a member of the patriotic company which 
marched so promptly to the relief of Boston, when Boston was be- 
leaguered: his service in the Continental array a year before the 
Declaration of Independence and continuing to the end of the war, 

" Capt. Haines was a Frenchman, who came to this country with 
the Marquis de La Fayette and served under him, as an artificer, in 
the American army from the battle of Brandywine to the capitulation 
of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Being a skillful worker in iron, he had 
been employed by Rumsey in making some portions of the machinery 
for his steamboat. 

" Michael Fouke was also a blacksmith and during his apprentice- 
ship aided Philip Entler, of Shepherdstown, in doing iron-work on 
the engine of the boat. 

" Peter Fisher, the last on the list, was a well-grown boy living in 
Shepherdstown, as the five others were, at the time when he saw 
Rumsey 's boat make her trial trip there. 

" Although more than a century has now elapsed since that mem- 
orable Monday, the 3d of December, 1787, when it was first demon- 
strated to the public that an effective plan for steam-propulsion had 
been invented, it is not difficult for those familiar with the physical 



412 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

features of the locality where it occurred, to form, from the descrip- 
tive accounts given by the above-named persons, a proximate idea of 
the scene as it then appeared, with the attendant circumstances of the 
occasion, for the meddlesome hand of modern improvement has not 
even yet done much to mar or modify the general aspect of the quaint 
old town and its surroundings. Its rocky cliffs, which rise for a 
hundred feet above the right bank of the river, are as unchanged now, 
with the exception of a passage-way at one point for a railroad, in 
their time-tinted ruggedness as in their romantic associations. And 
as for the river itself — the bright, beautiful and abounding Potomac — 
' Men may come and men may go, but it flows on forever,' the same 
grand old historic stream in all its varying moods — at times as placid 
as the slumbering infant that smiles at pleasant dreams and then as 
turbulent as some wild warrior of the West. 

" From all accounts the day was a beautiful one, and at an early 
hour the people from the surrounding country began to pour into 
town, some coming from a considerable distance and all eager to see 
the wonderful boat which they had heard would be made to move by 
some mysterious agency, without the aid of oars, sails, paddles or set- 
ting poles; so, that by the time appointed for the exhibition, which 
was the hour of noon, the picturesque cliffs which flanked the ferry- 
landing were occupied by hundreds of curious spectators, grouped on 
every ' coigne of vantage ' that could afford an unobstructed view of 
the river, a view such as poets dream of and as drive painters to 
despair. Assembled at the landing where the boat was moored was a 
motley crowd of men and boys, representing every class and color in 
the community, and while there were those there, and not a few, who 
were well qualified by their acquirements to form an intelligent 
opinion of Rumsey's invention, there was, of course, the usual comple- 
ment of village ' Sir Oracles,' and of those ubiquitous and self-suffi- 
cient fools, who are always ready to deride what they can not under- 
stand, and who had come, after the manner of their kind, to scoff at 
the anticipated failure of a scheme which, according to their conceited 
and contracted notions, would never have been thought of by anybody 
but some such visionary ' crank ' as him whom, among themselves, 
they were accustomed to call ' Crazy Bumsey.' 

" A little way apart, on a rocky knoll near the cliff, and beneath 
the sheltering branches of a clump of cedars which formed a natural 
canopy of evergreens above them, was a group of ladies and gentle- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 413 

men whose names, being identified with the occasion, may properly 
be mentioned here: The most conspicuous figure in the group was 
that of Horatio Gates, 'late major-general in the Continental Army,' 
and at that time residing on his 'Traveler's Rest' estate, five miles 
from Shepherdstown. He was of medium height and full habit, with 
a florid complexion, which indicated a fondness for the material things 
of this world. 

"By the side of General Gates, and in marked contrast as to face 
and form, was Maj. Henry Bedinger, a tall, slender man, of saturnine 
complexion, who was as straight as an Indian, and whose piercing, 
black eyes were as bright as an eagle's. Near him were the Eev. 
Robert Stubbs and Capt. Abram Shepherd, the former of whom was 
principal of the Classical Academy and rector of the Episcopal (or, as 
it was yet called, ' English ' ) Church, of which Capt. Shepherd was 
one of the wardens. The reverend gentleman was rosy-cheeked and 
plumptiludinous — his whole appearance proving that then as now the 
good people of Shepherdstown take excellent care of their parsons. 
Capt. Shepherd was a thin-visaged little man, of prominent features, 
full of energy, a first-rate farmer, and an unfailing friend of the 
church ; traits which have been lineally transmitted to some of his 
descendants. 

"Then there was another Revolutionary officer near by — Col. 
Joseph Swearingen, a tall, robust, soldierly-looking person, with a 
Roman nose which rather overshadowed the rest of his features. He 
was a kind-hearted gentleman, and greatly loved by the community in 
which he lived. 

" The next claiming attention was a stoutly built man of brusque 
address, who, though descended from one of the regicides of Charles 
the First, had very little of the cant of puritanism in his composition. 
It was General Darke, who had been an officer in the old French war 
as well as in that of the Revolution, and who, subsequently, in the 
Indian war of 1791, distinguished himself at St. Clair's defeat. 

" Besides the foregoing, there was Philip Pendleton, a gentleman 
of fine figure, fair complexion, regular features and dignified bearing; 
John Kearsley, a magistrate and Presbyterian elder, Avho by virtue of 
his official position was not only severely correct in his morals, but 
likewise solemnly sedate in his manners; and Cato Moore, another 
magistrate, whom his friends called ' King ' Moore, a gentleman of 
genial disposition, commanding the respect and regard of the entire 



SJ-d4.M.^ 






414 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

community. ' The Three Morrows,' brothers-in-law of Rumsey, of 
course were there; as likewise were John Mark, Thomas White, David 
Gray, Benoni Swearingen and other prominent citizens, now forgotten. 

" Among the ladies in the group were Mrs. Abram Shepherd, Mrs. 
Rumsey and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Charles Morrow, Mrs. Mark (with 
her little daughter Ann, Avho afterward became Mrs. John Baker), 
and several others. 

"Rumsey had invited the above-mentioned ladies to take passage 
on his boat, but 'no gentleman was permitted on board,' except 
Charles Morrow and Dr. McMechin, the former of whom was to take 
the helm, and the latter to assist Rumsey in attending to the machin- 
ery. When, therefore, it was time to start, the ladies were escorted 
on board to seats provided for them abaft the boiler, which, with the 
rest of the machinery, occupied the forward part of the boat, ' about 
two-thirds of its length from the stern.' Just as she was about to be 
pushed off from the shore, little Ann Mark, letting go her father's 
hand, ran down to the water's edge and begged to be allowed to go 
with her mother on the trip. ' And I'm very glad I did it,' said the 
old lady many years afterward to the writer, ' for Mr. Rumsey lifted 
me in and I was one of those who went on the first steamboat that ever 
was seen.' 
\ " When they had shoved the boat off a short distance from shore, 

Rumsey started her engine and she moved slowly out to the middle of 
the river, where, rounding to, in obedience to her helm, and with her 
prow pointing westward, she paused for a moment and then, by a 
sudden impulse, steamed off up stream, against the current of the 
river amid the shouts of the excited multitude upon the shore. 

" ' I was standing next to Gen. Gates,' said Maj, Bedinger in de- 
scribing the scene to the writer, ' he was very near-sighted, and 
watched the preparations for starting the boat with much interest 
through his eye-glasses. When she moved out and he saw her going 
off up the river against the current, by the force of steam alone, he 
took off his hat and exclaimed. My God she moves ! Yes,' added the 
venerable major, ' and when she moved, the destiny of the world, too, 
moved that day.' 

" The old gentleman was right, for it certainly received an accel- 
erating impulse on that occasion; and it yet moves — E pur si miiove, 
as Galileo said. Peter Fisher, speaking of the occasion, said that he 
and a number of other boys ran along the shore trying to keep up with 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 415 

the boat, but that before they had reached ' flat rock ' they were dis- 
tanced in the race, and that he noticed ' there was all the time a great 
bubbling up of the water behind her.' Old Michael Fouke used to 
say, excitedly, ' Why, sir, she could navigate through the Straits of 
Gibraltar ; ' and Captain Haines used to refer with pardonable pride 
to the fact of his having assisted ^zat bonne homme, Monsieur Rumsay 
in ze consiruczione of his bateau a vapeur,'' which he was wont to say 
he would never forget — ' Je n'' oublicrai jamais — no sair, nevair — 
nevair! ' 

" But to return to the boat itself, which we left steaming her way 
up the river, after going for half a mile or more above the town, to a 
point opposite to what is known as Swearingen's Spring, she rounded 
to and returned, going for some little distance below town, beyond where 
the Shenandoah Valley Rail road bridge now spans the Potomac, ' the 
people again raising a mighty shout as she passed by them.' Thus she 
continued to go to and fro, up and down the river ' for about the space 
of two hours,' in full view of many hundreds of spectators, and then 
steaming back to the ferry landing, her delighted passengers were put 
ashore, and Rumsey received the cordial congratulations of the assem- 
bled crowd. 

*' The average rate of speed to which the boat attained on this oc- 
casion was three miles an hour, but on a second trial of her, which 
took place in the following week, on Tuesday, December 11, 1787, in 
the presence of numerous spectators, the certificates of some of whom 
will be referred to presently, her rate of speed was increased to four 
miles per hour." 

After the above trial of December 3, 1787, so graphically described 
by Col. Boteler, from descriptions given him by a number of eye-wit- 
nesses to the important event, another and better experimental trip 
was made at the same point (Shepherdstown) on the week following, 
Tuesday, December 11, 1787, when the boat made four miles an hour. 
In regard to this second trip the writer hereof wishes to submit a 
piece of evidence from a source entirely independent of that whence 
the most of this article has been obtained, and which is, therefore, 
conclusively confirmatory of all the essential points detailed above. 

Whilst examining a bound volume of the Virginia Gazetie, pub- 
lished in Winchester in 1787-88, possibly the only one in existence 
to-day, the writer came upon the following interesting and important 
article, which was so timely a " find " that it almost induced the ex- 
clamation "Eureka!" 



416 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

From the " Virginia Gazette and Winchester Advertizer^^ of Fri- 
day, Ja7iuary 11, 1788. 
To the Printers of the Winchester Advertizer, &c., 
Gentlemen, 

Please to insert the following extract of a letter from a person who 
saw Mr. Rumsey's exhibition, and oblige 

Your humble servant, 

A Subscriber. 

" On the eleventh day of this month Mr. Rumsey''s Steam Boat, 
with more than half her loading (which was upwards of three ton) 
and a number of people on board, made a progress of four miles in one 
hour against the current of Potowmac river, by the force of steam, 
without any external application whatsoever, impeled by a machine 
that will not cost more than twenty guineas for a ten ton boat, and 
that will not consume more than four bushels of coals, or the equiva- 
lent of wood, in twelve hours. It is thought that if some pipes of the 
machine had not been ruptured by the freezing of water, which had 
been left in them a night or two before, and which ruptures were only 
secured by rags tied round them, that the boat's way would have been 
at the rate of seven or eight miles in an hour. As this invention is 
easily applied to boats or ships of all dimensions, to smooth, shallow 
and rapid rivers, or the deepest and roughest seas, freightage of all 
kinds will be reduced to one-third of its present expense. 

" Mr. Rumsey has a machine (which I likewise have seen) by 
which he raises water for grist or saw mills, watering of meadows, or 
purposes of agriculture, cheaper than races can be dug, or dams made, 
and the water, after performing its operation, to be returned again into 
its first reservoir. He has likewise made such improvements upon 
the structure of mills as to work grist mills with one-third of the 
water now expended, and saw mills with one-twentieth, and yet in- 
crease their powers without fearing the innumerable accidents attend- 
ant on the cumbersome parade of rounds, logs and wheels, which he 
has totally laid aside, and equally simplifies and cheapens the build- 
ings; but I shall say no more, as Mr. Rumsey is preparing to publish 
the principles upon which his boat acts, when the public's curiosity will 
be satisfied. 

"December 16, 1787. I am, &c., &c." 

As a precaution against any misapprehension or misunderstanding 
by the public who had not the privilege of witnessing the trials of the 
boat, and for the further purpose of placing his claim to the invention 
beyond any peradventure, Rumsey obtained a number of certificates 
from the leading gentlemen who saw the experiment, among whom 
were Gen. Horatio Gates, Rev. Robert Stubbs, Abram Shepherd, John 
Morrow, William Brice, Henry Bedinger, David Gray, Thomas White, 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 417 

Charles Morrow, Moses Hoge, John Mark, Cornelius Wynkoop, Be- 
noni Swearingen and Joseph Swearingen. The certificates were sworn 
to before Justice John Kearsley and Justice Cato Moore, and attested 
by the clerk of Berkeley county, Mr. Moses Hunter. 

Eef erring to this trial of his boat, Rumsey says, on the fourth page 
of his " Psean or Short Treatise on Steam," which he published on the 
1st of January, 1788, less than one month after the exhibition: 

"My machine, with all its misfortunes upon its head, is abundantly 
sufficient to prove my position, which was that a boat might be so 
constructed as to be propelled through the water at the rate of ten 
miles an hour, by the force of steam, and that the machinery employed 
for that purpose might be so simple and cheap as to reduce the price 
of freight at least one-half in common navigation; likewise that it 
might be forced by the same machinery, with considerable velocity, 
against the constant stream of long and rapid rivers. Such machinery 
I promised to prepare, and such a boat to exhibit: this I have now so 
far performed in the presence of so many witnesses, and to the satis- 
faction of so many disinterested gentlemen, as to convince the unpreju- 
diced, and to deprive even the sceptic of his doubts, &c." 

As it will probably be interesting to the reader to have Rumsey's 
own description of his boat, the following is copied from the pamphlet 
spoken of : 

"In the bottom of the boat on the kelson is a trunk, the after end 
of which is open and terminates at the stern-post; the other end is 
closed, and the whole trunk, according to its dimensions, occupies 
about three-fourths part of the length of the boat. On the closed end 
of the trunk stands a cylinder two and a half feet long; from this cyl- 
inder there is a communication by a tube to the river or water under 
the boat; on the top of this tube, and within the cylinder, there is a 
valve to admit the water from the river into the cylinder, and it like- 
wise prevents it returning the same way. There is another communi- 
cation which lets water pass freely from the cylinder to the trunk 
through which it is discharged at the stern. On the top of this 
cylinder there stands another of the same length which is fixed to the 
under one by screws; in each of these cylinders there is a piston 
which moves up and down with very little friction; these pistons are 
connected by a smooth bolt passing through the bottom of the upper 
cylinder; the lower cylinder acts as a pump which draws water from 
the river through the tube of the valve before described. The upper 
cylinder acts as a steam engine, and receives its steam from a boiler 



4:18 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

under its piston, which is then carried up to the top of the cylinder 
by the steam (at the same time the piston of the lower cylinder is 
brought up to the top, from its connection with the upper piston by 
the aforesaid bolt) ; they then shut the communication from the boiler 
and open another to discharge the steam for condensation ; by this 
means the atmosphere acts upon the piston of the upper cylinder, and 
its force is conveyed to the piston of the lower cylinder by the afore- 
said connecting bolt, which forces the water then in the lower cylinder 
through the trunk with considerable velocity; the reaction of which 
at the other end of the trunk is the power that propels the boat for- 
ward." 

During the winter of 1787-88 Rumsey went to Philadelphia, where 
his steamboat plans excited such an interest among its leading citizens 
that, shortly after his arrival there, an association was formed for his 
encouragement, which was called "The Rumseian Society." Ben- 
jamin Franklin was president of the society, which had for members 
the following gentlemen: Arthur St. Clair, William Bingham, Ben- 
jamin Wynkoop, James Tunchard, John Jones, Levi Hollingsworth, 
Joseph James, John Wilson, George Duffield, Reed & Forde, Wood- 
rop and Joseph Sims, William Redwood & Son, William Barton, Rich- 
ard Adams, Samuel Wheeler, Samuel Magaw, Adam Kuhn, Miers 
Fisher, M. F. for Robert Barkley, of London, Charles Vancouver, Bur- 
gis Allison, John Vaughn, John Ross, William Turner. 

In May, 1788, Rumsey went to England, by the advice and with 
the assistance of the gentlemen of the Rumseian Society. He was 
furnished with letters of introduction by some of the most distinguished 
men of his own countrymen to prominent persons in England, includ- 
ing among his own countrymen such men as Washington, Franklin, 
Patrick Henry, Gov. Johnson of Maryland, etc. The following, copied 
from another newspaper published in Winchester, and bound in the 
volume from which the account given above of Rumsey's boat was 
taken, is here reproduced. 

From the " Virginia Cey^iinel, or the Winchester Mercury'' 
of Sept. 17, 1788. 

"Philadelphia, Sept. 3, 1788. 
"We learn that Mr. James Rumsey, of Shepherds-Town, Va., the 
ingenious inventor of the Steam-Boat, exhibited last Fall on the river 
Potowmac, and which was propelled against the stream at the rate of 
four miles an hour by the force of steam, without the assistance of 
oar or paddle, is now in England. He was recommended to the So- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 419 

ciefcy of Arts and Sciences there by his Excellency Dr. Franklin, and 
has demonstrated the utility of his plan to the entire satisfaction of 
that body. It is hoped that on his return to his native country he 
will receive that encouragement from his fellow citizens which his 
merits so justly entitle him." 

One of the first duties of Rumsey upon his arrival in England 
was to "procure patents from the British Government for steam navi- 
gation," and for "various improvements in steam engines, pumps, 
boilers and mill machinery," which cost him " more money than he 
expected to pay for the protection they afforded him." But, of course, 
the main object of his visit to England was to introduce his steamboat, 
and to this he addressed himself with his accustomed energy, but 
difficulties and embarrassments of a pecuniary nature beset his path 
on all sides. However, he struggled on until finally he was enabled 
to begin the construction of his boat to be launched upon the Thames. 
The boat was finished in 1790, and was 100 feet long, with propor- 
tionate breadth of beam and depth of hold. While his vessel was 
under construction he wrote a number of letters to friends in America, 
and in one of them under date of July, 1790, he mentions the inter- 
esting fact of his having met in England a young American artist 
named Mobert Fulton, and speaks of him as if they were on terms of 
intimacy, Fulton lived for a number of years, both before and after 
the date mentioned, in Europe, and was employed upon a plan for blow- 
ing up vessels with submarine torpedoes, and he could not have failed 
to be informed of his countryman's invention. Let the significant 
fact then be borne in mind that Rumsey and Fulton were on terms of 
intimacy in London shortly before the former's death, which occurred 
suddenly in that city on the 21 st of December, 1792, the circum- 
stances of which are detailed in the subjoined letter from Mr. R. C. 
Wakefield, the original of which was before the Congressional com- 
mittee to which the "petition of James Rumsey's heirs" had been 
referred in 1839: 

"London, December 26, 1792. 

"On the day the last part of this letter was wrote he [RumseyJ 
received a note from the committee of mechanics requesting his 
attendance at the committee room of the Society of arts in the Adel- 
phi, on the evening of the 20th, to substantiate the utility of a model 
which he had sent there ten mouths ago for the equalization of water 
on water-wheels. He drank tea at home about 7 o'clock that evening, 
and was, as he had been for mouths past, in very great spirits. After 
tea he went to the committee room, and in due course delivered what 



420 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

all the members afterward expressed rather a lecture on hydrostatics 
than an explanation of the model, to the admiration and satisfaction 
of all present; after which he was busy in wording resolutions to be 
entered in the society's book, when he was perceived to lift instinct- 
ively his right hand to his temple and complain of a violent pain, 
which were the last articulate words he spoke. Every necessary med- 
ical assistance was at hand — Dr. Austin, Dr. Baker, &c. He was taken to 
the Adelphi hotel, where he expired about a quarter past 9 o'clock the 
next evening, remaining nearly the whole time sensible, but almost 
speechless. Every respect has been paid to his remains by his friends, 
several of whom attended at his interment at St. Margaret's, West- 
minster, where I had him conveyed on Monday evening last. I fear 
his affairs will be too intricate to make it safe for any one to admin- 
ister, as he has left no will, at least in England; powers of attorney 
must, therefore, be sent, or some one come legally aiithorized. I have 
sealed up his papers, &g., which shall remain till I hear further from 
his family. His family may probably be at a loss how to proceed; I 
would, therefore, recommend you to write to them on the subject, and 
earnestly request persons to be appointed who know the parties with 
whom they are to settle. Every exertion in my power in the interim 
for the benefit of his family shall be made. It is my duty to him, in 
whom I had a friend so valuable, that our endeavors were equal, our 
wishes reciprocal, and our persons for years past inseparable. For 
him I lament; for the world I regret; but for his family I mourn. 
Any commands you may have in this country that I can execute I hope 
you will make free to order. 

"Sir, your obedient, humble servant, 

"R. C. Wakefield." 

And thus died James Rumsey, almost in the prime of his life and 
on the eve of the last crucial experiment with his steamboat — -an ex- 
periment no longer — but the last proof to the world of the correctness 
of his ideas in regard to steam propulsion as applied to water-craft, 
for his vessel was finished and ready for the trial, it only needing 
some outward finishing. The trial was made, however, with complete 
success, as the following extract from the Gentleman^s Magazine of 
February, 1793, shows: " The vessel of the late Mr. Rumsey to sail 
against wind and tide has lately been tried and was found to sail four 
miles an hour." A description then follows, which is in substance 
the same as that already given. Thus died poor Rumsey, to be 
robbed of an honor, the right to which is as irrefragible as any ever 
made by man. The proof is overwhelming — beyond the utmost shadow 
of a doubt. Robert Fulton, during his intimacy with Rumsey, had 
not the slightest idea of the construction of a steamboat. He knew 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 421 

all Rumsey's methods, all the appliances that Rumsey utilized, but as 
soon as the inventor died, he straightway set about constructing a 
steamboat, yet had so little skill, so little knowledge of the principles 
of hydrostatics that he was nearly twenty years in elaborating the ideas 
of another man, and then only with the assistance of one well known 
as a man of many attainments and an expert theoretical mechanic. 

Some little recognition, however, coming late as it did, has been 
accorded to Rumsey. In 1839 Congress awarded to " James Rumsey, 
Jr., the son and only surviving child of James Rumsey, deceased, a 
suitable gold medal, commemorative of his father's services and high 
agency in giving to the ivorld the benefits of the steamboats 



CHAPTER XXI. 

HARPER'S PERRY AND JOHN BROWN'S RAID. 

Early Settlement — Harper's Mill — Shenandoah Falls— Magnificent 
Scenery — Jefferson's Rock — Washington's Portrait — The Grand 
Rivers— AVild Goats— The Government Works— Vandalism— Camp 
Hill— Superintendent Perkins — Destruction of the AVorks— Burst- 
ing of a Bubble — Disappointment — Church and School — Gr'and 
Dedication — Desecration of the Churches- Sketches of Some of 
Them— Storer College— Misfortunes of the Ferry— The Great 
Floods — The John Brow^n Assassins — Their Atrocious Plans and 
Arms — Maudlin Perversion of Facts — Brown's Character and 
Crimes — Von Holst's Contemptible Charge— Details of the Mur- 
derers' Attacks— Their Slaughter of Beckham and Others— In- 
furiated Citizens — The Crushing of the Vipers— Details of the 
Affair — Gens. R. E. Lee and J. E. B. Stuart — Indictment and 
Trial— Perfect Impartiality— Brown's Own Testimony— It Gives 
THE Lie to a Legal Slanderer. 

THE quaint old town of Harper's Ferry, situated at the junction of 
the Shenandoah River with the Potomac, on the line of the Bal- 
timore & Ohio Railroad, where it is tapped by the Valley branch of 
that great trunk line from the eastern seaboard to the northwest, 
stands upon a site that was the nucleus of a town over one hundred 
and fifty years ago. It was not far from where the first settlers / 
crossed the Potomac, and its peculiar location early led them to build 
in its vicinity. They had the advantage of two streams and the con-^ 



422 HISTOKY OF THE LOWEK SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

struction of a dam for a mill was comparatively easy. Robert Harper 
was one of those who saw the usefulness of the site, and he accord- 
ingly constructed a grist-mill, not far from where now stands the 
pulp-mill, or possibly, somewhat nearer the island. This mill was, 
no doubt, one of the first in the Valley, and was but little later than 
those erected at Shepherdstown and on the Opequou.j But the local- 
ity was not known as Harper's Ferry in the sense of a town, although 
Robert Harper had a ferry there before 1760. It was called the 
Sherando, or Gerando Ferry (the word Shenandoah not having been 
evolved for nearly fifty years afterward), but more frequently Mr, 
Harper's ferry. After the settlement began to enlarge, the village 
was called Shenandoah Fallsi and thus it was termed when James 
Rumsey, the steamboat inventor, had his headquarters there whilst 
serving as secretary or superintendent of the Potomac Improvement 
Company. The ferry being still kept up after the death of Mr. 
Harper, the name stuck to the locality and got to be known entirely 
by that title, the " Shenandoah Falls " being dropped as it covered too 
much space, the falls, so-called, extending for miles up the river. 
Harper lived till about a year after the surrender of Cornwallis, and 
the close of the Revolution. He is said to have been eighty years 
old when he died. He left no children, but some of his brother's 
children inherited the property, and some of their descendants are 
still residing in the quaint and unfortunate town. A moss-grown and 
time-worn grave is still pointed out in the old cemetery on the 
heights, as the last resting place of Robert Harper. 

There is, possibly, no spot on the American continent where the 
scenery is so perfectly charming and overwhelming. No mountain 
height in the world gives so varied and beautiful a picture, or rather 
a series of pictui'es. From Alp and Andes, from Sierra and Rocky, 
great stretches of country may be seen; glaciers glitter and snow-clad 
peaks pierce the clouds; winding rivers crawl out amid the hills and 
dales; and those are pictures for the gods, but here, right at your 
feet, all these beauties, save the ice and snow, crowd in upon the 
senses, from only a mile or two away. One can take in these charms 
and understand them; whilst with Alpine scenery much ik lost in con- 
sequence of the vast distances from which they are seen. I The gorge 
through which bursts the combined waters of the majestic Potomac — 
"river of swans," and the beautiful Shenandoah — "dancing daughter 
of the stars,'! seems so near, whilst standing on Boliver Heights, JefiPer- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 423 

son's Rock, or the Maryland Heights, that one can reach out and touch 
them. A combination of mountain and stream exists in such close prox- 
imity, the one rising abruptly from the other, that it is difficult to con- 
clude in one's mind whether the waters cut their way through the hills 
or whether the hills failed to "grow"* where the waters ran. To stand 
upon the heights and watch the glinting of the waters as they dash 
against the half -embedded rocks of the rivers, and to see the soaring 
eagle sail from his eyrie on the Loudoun crags and swoop down upon a 
wild kidj- on the Maryland Heights, is long to be remembered, and to 
stand upon the rock named in honor of the illustrious statesman, Jeffer- 
son, who made the remark, and drink all the glorious landscape in, is 
indeed, "worth a trip across the Atlantic." One may spend hours and 
days in viewing the thousand magnificent scenes presented on all sides, 
and still have no occasion to leave a radius of a mile from the railroad 
station. Looking across to the Maryland Heights there is an enormous 
portrait of Gen. Washington, formed by the different colored rocks that 
appear on the face of the cliff. It is very striking — when you see it. 
The writer hereof has pointed it out to numbers of persons from the 
trains in passing there during the last twenty years, and has been 
rewarded with many thanks, as they recognized it, and wondered at 
.this grand display of nature's handiwork, but he has never yet been 
able to see it himself. 

/ The Governmeni Works. — During the second term of Washington, 
Congress decided to establish an armory for the manufacture of small 
arms, and the site chosen, said to have been selected or recommended 
by Washington himself, was Harpers Ferr/k It had all the 
advantages of location, unlimited water power and proximity to 
timber. The government obtaining permission from the General 
Assembly of Virginia to locate the site for its projected works 
within her boundaries, 125 acres of land Avere purchased, and another 
larger tract in the vicinity was secured. The erection of shops was 
immediately commenced, and in 1796 a Mr. Perkins was appointed 
superintendent. Anticipating a war with France in 1799, during the 

* According to an accepted tlieory, mountains are formed by tlie sliriuking of tlie surface of the 
earth, causing wrinkles, as an orange does wlien it dries, not suddenly by volcanic action, as formerly 
thought, but slowly, imperceptiljly, through untold ages, with the process going on now and always. 

tThis is no fancy picture. It may occasionally be seen. Shortly after the war a gentleman re- 
siding opposite Harper's Ferry kept a number of goats. Some of these animals got into the habit of 
wandering up the steep cliffs, and finally staid there altogether, and became so wild that now it is 
extremely difficult to get within gunshot of them. They have increased in their wild state till they are 
thought to number over one hundred. They may be seen with the naked eye any clear day from the 
platform at Harper's Ferry. They live among the cliffs, almost entirely inaccessible. 

26 



424 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

administration o£ President Adams, a considerable force was organ- 
ized for defense, and were sent to Harper's Ferry to drill and become 
used to camp life. They took up their quarters, with Gen. Pinckney 
in command, on the ridge which has since been known as '• Camp 
Hill," and where thousands of Confederate and Federal soldiers 
during the late Civil war also camped. In this command there was a 
Capt. Henry who exhibited about the smallest amount of manly 
instinct it falls to one's lot to encounter. Party rancour prevailed at 
this time to a terrible degree, and this Henry was a great partisan 
against Jeiferson ; so the military vandal took some of his company up 
to " JeflPerson's Rock," and hurled down the mountain side and into 
the river the topmost portion of the rock, the portion upon which 
JefPerson had inscribed his name! 

Superintendent Perkins died, and was succeeded in 1810 by James 
Stubblefield, who continued in the position nearly twenty years. 
About 1820 John H. Hall, of Maine, invented a breech-loading gun, 
and, the government purchasing the patent. Hall was made superin- 
tendent of their construction, and thus came a portion of the works to 
be known as Hall's Rifle Works. 

In 1829-30 a tragedy occurred that created great excitement for 
awhile. Col. Dunn had been appointed superintendent of the works. 
He was a strict disciplinarian, a martinet of the extreme kind, and 
endeavored to treat the workmen under him as common soldiers, and 
even as drudges. An armorer named Ebenezer Cox fell under the 
displeasure of Dunn, and a quarrel ensued, which resulted finally in 
Cox killing Dunn. He was arrested and tried, and notwithstanding 
many palliating circumstances — ^the extreme temper of Dunn and his 
overbearing character — Cox was executed August 27, 1831. Gen. 
George Rust succeeded Dunn in January, 1830, and he by Col. Ed- 
ward Lucas in 1837. Maj. Craig became superintendent in 1841; 
Maj. Symington in 1844; Col. Huger in 1851, and Maj. Bell in 1854. 
^ There had been for many years a great contest between those in op- 
position to the military rule at the works and those in favor of it, the 
former being largely in the majority, but the latter had possession, 
which was many points in their favor. The matter was carried to 
\ Congress, and through the efforts, mainly, of Hon. Charles James 
Faulkner, the military system was superseded by the civil, from which 
time till the great disaster of the war. Harper's Ferry enjoyed her 
A best era. Henry W. Clowe, a skilled mechanic of Prince William 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 425 

County, Va., was the superintendent to inaugurate the " civil system," 
Alfred M, Barbour succeeded Mr, Clowe in 1859, and he was in charge 
at the breaking out of the war in 1861. In 1862 Daniel Young, who 
had been a master machinist at the rifle factory, was appointed to take 
charge of the government property, and he remained till it was sold, 
in 1869. At this sale gj-eat expectations were indulged in by the un- 
fortunate citizens of Harper's Ferry. Capt. Adams, who bought the 
property for a supposed wealthy syndicate, gave out the impression 
that immense factories and works of all kinds would be locai«d on the 
spot, and this caused many persons to pay very high prices for prop- 
erty; but, alas, it was the old, old story, told every day on 'change — 
bulling the market for better prices. The "great factories" have 
never materialized. 

Church and School. — Harper's Ferry being one of the oldest set- 
tlements in the Valley, it was doubtless visited by ministers of all the 
denominations which had churches anyAvhere in its vicinity, but no 
church edifice was erected till a comparatively late date. Shortly 
after 1800 one or two rude structures were built, which were succeeded 
by better ones in the course of time. The following account of a cor- 
ner-stone laying in 1825 is copied from a newspaper published at the 
time in Martinsburg: 

" June 24, 1825. — At Harper's Ferry the corner-stone of a New 
Church, School-house and Masonic Hall was laid with Masonic cer- 
emonies. Col. Otho H. Williams, Junior Grand Warden of the Grand 
Lodge of Maryland, officiating on the occasion. He delivered to Lewis 
Wernwag, the architect, a neat and appropriate charge. In addition 
to the home fraternity of Masons, Eureka Lodge of Boonsboro, Md., 
and Equality Lodge of Martinsburg were present. Brethren attended 
from Winchester, Brucetown, Shepherds-Town, Waterford, Frederick 
and Hagerstown. The religious services were conducted by the 
Reverend Brother William Little of Hagerstown. The Light In- 
fantry of Charlestown paraded, and the Amateur Band of Harper's 
Ferry furnished the music. After the ceremonies at the corner stone 
were concluded, the procession proceeded to a beautiful green in front 
of the United States Arsenals, where a neat and appropriate address 
was delivered by Brother P. C. Maccabe. A dinner was prepared at 
the Harper's Ferry Hotel by Maj. J. Stephenson, and eleven regular 
toasts were drank, followed by ten volunteer toasts." 

At the commencement of the Civil war, a number of fine churches 



426 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

reared their stately walls and steeples to the heavens from the many- 
fine elevations of the town, but the devastation of the military vandals, 
who at various times occupied this devoted spot, left but little of them 
standing when the conflict closed. Some of them were used for stables, 
some for storehouses, others devoted to any and all purposes, and those 
torn down piecemeal, as some soldier needed the timber or the building 
materials. Only one of those sacred edifices was left whole. It was 
saved from desecration by the persistent personal efforts of Father 
Costello, the priest in charge of the Catholic Church. This gentle- 
man defended his charge with force of will and persuasion to such 
effect that he saved it intact. 

The Catholic Church, the one just spoken of, was consecrated many 
years ago, and some noted priests have ministered here, among whom 
was the present Bishop Kain. The old church stands in a most pict- 
uresque position, perched way up on a lofty point of the heights, and 
it is one of the greatest attractions to strangers. 

St. John's Episcopal Church. — The congregation of this church 
was not regularly organized till about the year 1850, at which time it 
was admitted to the diocese of Eichmond. Its former beautiful build- 
ing was consecrated in 1853, but was utterly ruined during the war, 
in consequence of which, and the loss of population of the Ferry, it 
became entirely abandoned, until 1878, when the organization was 
partially revived, and the church made a mission under the diocese of 
West Virginia. Services were occasionally held in rooms engaged for 
the purpose, but some years since the damaged building was remodeled, 
and it is now used once more, 

Tlie Presbyterian Church was used as a stable for the cavalry of 
the Federal soldiers during the war, and at times as a guard-house, 
but it has since been renovated and refurnished, and is once again used 
as a house of worship. 

The Methodist Protestant denomination had a very neat and com- 
modious building at the beginning of the war, but the soldiers laid it 
waste, "made it a den of thieves," as it were; but since the reign of 
peace the surviving members and friends have built another church on 
Camp Hill, and an ornament to the town it is. 

The Methodist Episcopal congregation also came out of the struggle 
minus a church building, but, as there is and was another of the same 
denomination at Bolivar, they began worshiping there after the war. 
The Lutheran Church fared the same as her other Protestant sis- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 427 

ters, the building being used as a hospital. It was much defaced and 
otherwise injured, hx4> has been repaired, and is again used. 

Stover College. — This institution was conceived by Mr. John Storer, 
of Maine, who, in 1867, offered to donate $10,000 on condition that 
$10,000 additional should be raised for the same purpose, to found a 
school in the South for the education of the negroes. Rev. Dr. Cheney, 
also of Maine, was an active worker and contributor to the same end. 
The funds were raised in time, and the school organized. Prof. Nathan 
Brackett, a graduate of Dartmouth College, was appointed the first 
principal. A charter was secured from the State, and the Congress of 
the United States granted valuable grounds and buildings for the use 
of the school. The college buildings are located on Camp Hill, and 
are well-arranged and commodious. The principal purpose of the 
school was to educate colored persons for teachers for their race in 
the Southern States, and numbers of colored ministers received here 
the foundation of their theological education, while hundreds of teach- 
ers have been sent to the various Southern States. 

" The Ferry," as it is called for brevity by everybody in the Lower 
Valley, has, notwithstanding the great disasters by fire, flood, raid 
and war, seems to be extremely tenacious of life. Many new build- 
ings have been erected on the heights and several down on the lowest 
level, where at any moment almost the two rivers may burst in and 
overwhelm everything. Like the dwellers on the slopes of Vesuvius, 
whose happy homes and pleasant vineyards and flowery gardens may 
be swept away by the lava torrents, and all their earthly possessions 
buried deep in the stupendous ruin of an eruption of the internal 
fires; when all hope would seem to vanish forever, and with naught 
left them but strong arms and willing hearts; with all — all — gone, 
they go to work and soon have another vineyard, another flower gar- 
den, another crag-built cottage, and are again happy till the muttering 
of the mountain once more warns them to flee ! I So your genuine 
Harper's Ferrian, when a flood occurs, goes up on the hills and views 
the waste of waters, or rows about the streets in a boat, and when the 
waters subside he begins again just as if a flood was a matter of 
course, and only one of the crosses he has to bear for the privilege of 
dwelling in the delightfully picturesque old town. \ 

Floods in the Potomac, and for that matter in all other rivers, 
occur seemingly at stated periods, ten to twenty years apart. News- 
paper files to which the writer has had access during his search for 



428 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

matter pertaining to this section show that in 1804 there was a great 
freshet in the Potomac, and in 1815 another still more destructive, 
whilst in 1825 a tornado swept over Berkeley and Jefferson Counties 
with such force as to uproot trees. This storm was accompanied by 
heavy rains and a great rise in both the Potomac and the Shenandoah 
Rivers. Again in 1837 the rivers rose to a great height, and in 1852 
another flood occurred which did much damage along the Potomac, 
injuring the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal terribly, and completely sub- 
merging Harper's Ferry, to a height almost equal to that of last 
spring (1889). In seven years from the last-mentioned disaster, in 
1859, a terrific tornado accompanied by heavy rain swept through the 
unfortunate town, doing much damage. The fine, covered bridge over 
the Shenandoah was blown and washed from its piers and destroyed. 
The flood of 1870 will long be remembered by all who had the mis- 
fortune to be in any way connected with it. The loss of life and 
pi-operty along the Shenandoah was beyond computation; the true 
story of that fearful disaster was too appalling to make accurate note 
of. Only the Johnstown horror exceeded it. The streets of the 
Ferry and everything in the low-lying portion of the town were far 
under water. But the flood of the spring of 1889 showed a higher 
water mark than all previous records. The bridge across the Shen- 
andoah Avas again washed away, and the entire business streets and all 
railroad tracks and small buildings were under water. Only the 
taller or two and three-story buildings remained with their upper 
portions exposed above the raging waters. The scene, as witnessed 
by the writer on that fearful Saturday, when the Potomac and the 
Shenandoah spread their torrents across the town till they met and 
formed a vast lake, was one never to be forgotten. The river was 
filled with almost everything that would float — barrels, boxes, coops, 
portions of bridges, barns and even complete houses. In addition to 
the destruction of property at the Ferry, the fine foot bridge at Shep- 
herdstown was carried away, and the splendid railroad bridge over the 
Potomac at Falling Waters was lifted from the piers and dashed to 
pieces by the irresistible flow of the enraged flood. Along the banks 
of the historic stream named thousands of dollars worth of private 
property was lost, and some few lives sacrificed. 

I To see the natural facilities in the way of water-power at Harper's 

Ferry unused, lying idle and going to waste, seems shameful. There 

\ is not a section of territory on earth where there is such adaptation of 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 429 

all that the manufacturer could, wish, as here at this quaint old village. 
The future will make this spot one of the greatest manufacturing i 
centers of this country. Its day must come. I f 

THE JOHN BROWN ASSASSINS. 

To dignify the atrocious crime of John Brown and his band of 
outlaws as an " insurrection," or to call it by any term less than mur- 
der or assassination, coupled with the attempt to incite others to the 
commission of the same crimes, is a perversion of the facts. Or to 
call those engaged in it a company of " deluded and misled men " 
is not truth. ' They were simply red-handed murderers, caught in the J 
act, and they knew what they were doiugj They were not a set of 
uneducated dupes: they were all men of intelligence (even two of 
their negro adherents were such) ; they coolly banded together from 
sheer spite and envy of a people whom they had been educated to 
hate, and they had nearly two years in which to reflect upon what they 
were about to do. They went about their hellish designs with% 
system that is foreign to the fanatic or over-zealous advocate of a cause, 
who usually rushes without preparation to the rescue or aid of that 
which he deems requires instant action. It was not an " insurrection," 
for those whom Brown expected to take arms and help him did not 
appear. Not a single negro, save the three or four he brought with 
him, raised a finger against their white masters. The great Civil war 
that followed sharp in the footsteps of Brown's crime, and the lapse of 
time which softens many harsh deeds, may give rise to gentler terms, 
but the fact will ever remain to the impartial historian that John Brown 
and his assassins committed one of the most unjustifiable deeds of ^**i 
horror ever perpetrated. There are reasons, and there may be great 
justice, for him who is oppressed to rise up and smite his oppressor, 
but what palliation can be offered for a set of men, living hundreds of 
miles away, to invade the property or soil of others, and endeavor to 
place in the hands of an ignorant and unthinking class, arms to mur- 
der another class, to despoil, burn, outrage and pillage? Those things 
were a portion of the plans of this outlaw and his bandits. They had 
in their possession when captured enough arms to equip 1,500 or 
2,000 men. They brought with them and had stored at their rendez- 
vous on the mountain over 200 improved pistols (six-shooters), over 
200 Sharp's rifles, and 1,000 steel-headed spears — the latter a fear- 
ful instrument of death, to be placed in the hands of the negroes. 



430 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

who were supposed not to understand the handling of fire-arms. 
With these 500 pistols and rifles in the hands of those capable of 
using them, and the 1,000 spears in the grasp of powerful negroes, 
incited and led on by the wily and unprincipled white men at their 
head, Avhat pen can describe the horrors of a march down through the 
Valley of Virginia, which they (the conspirators) acknowledged was 
a portion of their plan, for it is not to be supposed that the citizens of 
Virginia would have tamely submitted to their ravages. Unprepared 
as the planters and peaceful citizens would have been, they would have 
been butchered in detail before sufficient force could have arrived for 
their protection. To call these premeditated murderers " fanatical " 

N and " deluded '"' is to degrade our language. Even "martyr" has 
been applied by those whose mistaken sympathies have led them to 
forget the wilfull shooting down of Fontaine Beckham, Boerly, Turner, 
Quinn and the inoffensive negro porter, Heywood Shepherd, the first 

^ "Wctim of these " liberators."; Out upon such maudlin, misplaced sen- 
mnentality! That gang of desperadoes were not new in their business 
in Virginia: many of them were desperadoes and cut-throats before 
they came here. Brown himself, for crimes in Kansas and Missouri 
would have been arrested and convicted of several atrocious murders 
there, if indeed, he had escaped lynching. The willful and cold- 
blooded murder of Doyle and his two sons in Kansas, when Mrs. 
Mahala Doyle upon her knees pleaded to the heartless scoundrel 
Brown for the life of her youngest son, is a matter of record. She it 
was, this widowed wife and mother, who wrote to Brown at Charles- 
town, after his conviction, telling him that his crimes had at last 
found him out, and that if her only son could reach there in time that 
he would gladly place the hangman's rope around his neck. 

Talk about this villain being a martyr! He made a business of 
running slaves off from their masters, for which he Avas paid by an 
anti-slavery society at so much per head, and, according to the con- 
fession of John E. Cooke, one of his men, shortly before the latter's 
execution, he stole horses and cattle in Kansas and Missouri, ran them 
off to loAva and Ohio, and pocketed the money from the sales. These 
facts were well known in Kansas, where the writer hereof lived sev- 
eral years during Brown's operations there. And as to his character 
being good otherwise, the facts do not bear out the idea. He lived at 
Franklin Mills (now Kent), in Portage County, Ohio, some fifty years 
ago, and kept a boarding house. Here he was looked upon as a very 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 431 

unprincipled man, as the writer was informed by several old gentle- 
men who knew Brown well while living there. Some time after 
Brown's attempt at Harper's Ferry, a gentleman, who was one of the 
oldest settlers of Portage County, wrote a small pamphlet of his early 
reminiscences, and a portion of it spoke of John Brown, who had re- 
sided, as above stated, at Franklin Mills. The old gentleman's 
account was anything but complimentary, and he mentioned an inci- 
dent that he vouched for as true, to the effect that Brown, in revenge 
for something his mother had done that did not please him, attempted 
to blow her up with powder at her home. Brown was not a fanatic, 
as fanatics do not receive pay for their services; nor was he crazy: 
there was too much preparation, too much forethought ; his plans were 
too well laid to admit of that theory. | He chose the best strategic 
point in the whole South for his peculiar operations; he took up a po- 
sition on the point of land formed by two rivers, with a splendid 
bridge at his back in case of retreat, over which he could pass direct , 
to the mountains of Maryland and Pennsylvania, whilst in front Bf 
him lay the rich valley of Virginia, hemmed in by mountains east and 
west, down which he hoped to pass into Tennessee and the Southwest. 
At his hand at the Feo-ry were thousands of rifles and muskets and 
plenty of ammunition. I -i 

Eecently (within a year or two past),. articles have appeared in^ 
various publications of this country, the most of which have tried to 
leave the impression, if not to make the charge direct, that Brown and 
his adherents did not obtain a fair trial, and among these writers are 
some men of national reputation. One in particular deserves atten- 
tion here. Baron Von Hoist, the talented German, who has written 
" A Constitutional History of the United States," a work that is at 
once fair and exhaustive, a splendid contribution to the legal historic 
literature of the world, and which has made him justly famous, has 
seen fit to step aside or down from his well-earned pedestal and say 
in substance " The trial of John Brown was not impartial." Why a 
gentleman of the undoubted erudition, legal attainments and supposed 
impartiality of Von Hoist should thus throw, in vieAV of all the facts 
and evidence of the case, the charge of unfairness into the face of the 
venerable Judge Parker and the jury which tried Brown, when the 
latter at the close of the trial thanked the judge and jury for their 
kindness and fairness, as will be shown by the records farther along, 
can only be accounted for on the two hypotheses that the learned 



432 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

German permitted his prejudices to run away with his reason, or that 
he was utterly unacquainted with tlie proceedings in point. Evidence 
in support of the entire impartiality of the trial at Charlestown will 
be adduced presently ; in the meantime a sketch of the operations of 
the invaders will be given, which may be relied upon as strictly in 
accordance with the actual facts, they having been obtained from eye- 
witnesses of nearly all the scenes. 

John Brown, or as he was familiarly known in Kansas, " Ossawat- 
omie Brown," in consequence of a fight in which he Avas engaged at 
Ossawatomie in the then Territory of Kansas (the term being a com- 
pound of a portion of the names of the creeks Osage and Pottowat- 
omie, after the manner of Tex-Arkana and Pen-Mar), was nearly six 
feet in height, not fleshy, but muscularly and wirily built, and with a 
slight stoop in his shoulders, generally with a downward look. He 
walked briskly. His features were sharp, nose prominent, eyes dark 
gray and piercing. His hair had been light, but at the time of his 
capture had turned gray, as also was his beard, which he wore full and 
long, not having shaved for several years. He usually wore plain 
clothing and was rather negligent of his attire. He was taciturn in 
manner, but when he spoke, used good language and to the point. He 
had a certain courage, and the fear of bodily harm to himself was 
foreign to him. His courage was rather stoicism, innate, or wrought 
up within him by his ultra abolition proclivities, which led him into 
scenes where his life might be at stake; a stoicism that never deserted 
him for a moment during his trial, nor whilst upon the gallows. 
Genuine courage does not consist in an indifference to death. The 
bloodiest of murderers who have in the most cowardly manner killed 
their victims have frequently stepped under the fatal noose with a 
smile upon their faces. The brave man never kills deliberately and 
in cold blood those who have offended him, as Brown slaughtered 
poor Doyle and his two sons in Kansas. That others did the same 
thing in those wild days was no excuse for him. 

\ In June, 1859, a man past fifty years of age alighted from the 
Cumberland Valley train at Hagerstown, Md., and proceeded to the 
Washington House, where he registered as John Smith. Two 
younger men were with him, whom he said were his sons. They staid 
over night and next day disappeared. These were John- Brown and 
Oliver and Watson Brown, his sons. They were on their way to the 
vicinity of Harper's Ferry, but they took quarters at Sandy Hook, a 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 433 

mile or two from that place, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Here 
they remained several weeks, when they took their departure for the 
" Kennedy farm," about foul* and a half miles north of the Ferry on 
the side of the mountain. | They had been joined at Sandy Hook by 
several other men, and they gave out the information that they were y 
experts in raining and geology, and that they were going to explore 
the Blue Ridge for minerals and metals which they had every reason 
to believe existed in abundance there.j These statements of course 
made them very popular, and welcome guests among the people in 
the neighborhood. Others joined them at the Kennedy place, but 
they kept out of sight, for fear of having suspicion directed against 
them. I A considerable number of shovels and other tools for mining 
were conspicuously displayed, and these confirmed the people in their 
good opinion of the strangers who were going to open the bowels of -/ 
old Blue Ridge and turn the stones to gold.\ During all these exploit- 
ing days the gang were silently preparing the mine. The arms and 
ammunition were shipped by rail to Chambersburg and from there sent 
in wagons to its destination. Some of the citizens of Hagerstown 
noticed wagons with peculiar boxes and large bundles of long han- 
dles, but they were told that they were implements and materials of 
the geologists on the mountain, and although they could not imagine 
what any set of men would want with so many hoe-handles, as they 
seemed to be, yet they thought it was none of tlieir business. These 
were the five-foot pike, or spear, handles, to be driven into the sock- 
ets of the cruel steel instruments, like big bowie-knives, which, in the 
hands of some powerful negro, the life of the Southern man or 
woman who would resist them, was to be stabbed out of them. But 
"man proposes and God disposes." 

The Aitach—Ahont 10 o'clock Sunday night, October 16, 1859, 
the watchman on duty at the railroad bridge was ordered to consider 
himself their prisoner by a squad or twenty-one men, who were ai-med 
with pistols and short rifles, and who came from the Maryland side. The 
watchman, William Williams, was very much surprised, and thought at 
first it was a joke of some of the country larks, but he was soon unde- 
ceived when they ordered him to come along with them and keep quiet, 
the whispered command being accompanied by a significant tap on the 
barrel of his rifle by the speaker. The party proceeded with their 
prisoner, leaving two of their number at the bridge as a guard, to the 
armory, where the guard of that establishment was also taken into 



434 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

qustody. Taking possession of the armory and leaving half of their 
number in charge of it, they proceeded to the rifle factory, some dis- 
tance up the Shenandoah River, and took the watchman there also a 
prisoner. They left a portion of their number at the rifle works, and 
returned to the armory with their third prisoner, and placed him with 
the other two. An Irishman, Patrick Higgins, a quick-witted fellow, 
who lived at Sandy Hook, about 12 o'clock, not aware of any tiling 
unusual going on, proceeded to the bridge to relieve the watchman 
supposed to be there, but who the party had carried off as has been 
stated, found himself collared at the Maryland end of the bridge and 
made prisoner by the two men left there. One of the men proceeded 
with their charge toward the Virginia side for the purpose of placing 
him with the other prisoners at the armory, but Pat, just after gain- 
ing the platform at the southern end of the bridge, watching his oppor- 
tunity, dealt his captor such a stunning blow Avith his hardy Hibernian 
fist that he sent him sprawling at full length, and before the fallen 
guard recovered, the plucky son of Erin was out of range, as a shot 
sent after him had no effect. Hearing the noise, a colored man in the 
employ of the railroad, named Hey wood, or Hay ward Shepherd, im- 
pelled by curiosity, went toward the spot where the guard had fallen, 
and on being ordered to halt, took to his heels and ran, but the poor 
fellow did not go far, for a bullet from the gun of the party who 
ordered him to halt laid him out a corpse, and their first victim was 
one of the race they claimed to have come to Virginia to liberate. 

The next move of the invaders was to secure hostages in the per- 
sons of prominent citizens for the purpose of insuring themselves 
against emergencies in case they were captured. They dispatched 
parties out to bring in Col. Lewis W. Washington, John M. Alstadt 
and several others, which mission was accomplished. During the 
night a train in charge of Conductor Phelps, of the Baltimore & 
Ohio Railroad, was detained for some time, but was finally allowed to 
proceed. It may be imagined that intense excitement prevailed in the 
town by morning. Everything was mystery. No one knew what it 
all meant. But self-preservation being one of the first laws of our 
nature, the citizens began arming themselves as best they could. Ad- 
mission, of course, could not be gained to the Government works, and 
they seized what arms they had in their houses. At the hour for go- 
ing to work the armorers, as they appeared at the works, were seized 
and confined. Not until after daylight did the town thoroughly wake. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 435 

They then found the bridge guarded by armed men, and guards sta- 
tioned at all the avenues leading out of the place. Somewhat of a 
panic seized the people and the number of the " supposed insurrection- 
ists" was at once largely magnified. They thought all the negroes of 
Virginia were up in arms. 

The second victim of the miscreants was Thomas Boerly, a re- 
spected citizen, who was shot while standing in his own doorway. 
Then George W. Turner fell before the invaders' deadly rifles, and to 
add still more to their dastardly crimes they shot Fontaine Beckham, the 
mayor of the town, while standing unarmed in the street. Henry 
Hunter, nephew of Mr. Beckham, in his testimony at the trial of 
Brown, on being recalled, said: 

" After Mr. Beckham was shot, I was much exasperated, and 
started with Mr. Chambers to the room where the second Thompson 
was confined, with the purpose of shooting him. We found several 
persons in the room, and had leveled our guns at him, when Mrs. 
Fouke's sister* threw herself before him and begged us to leave him \ 
to the laws. We then caught hold of him and dragged him out by 
the throat, he saying, ' Though you may take my life, 8,000,000 will 
rise up to avenge me and carry out my purpose of giving liberty to 
the slaves,' We carried him out to the bridge, and two of us, level- 
ing our guns in this moment of wild exasperation, fired, and before he 
fell a dozen or more balls were buried in him ; we then threw his body 
off the trestle-work, and returned to the bridge to bring out the pris- 
oner Stephens, and serve him in the same way; we found him suffer- 
ing from his wounds, and probably dying ; we concluded to spare him, 
and start for others, and shoot all we could find. I had just seen my 
loved uncle and best friend I ever had, shot down by those villainous 
Abolitionists, and felt justified in shooting any that I could find; I felt 
it my duty, and I have no regrets." 

The news of the affair spread like wildfire throughout the sur- 
rounding country, and soon all the military companies within thirty 
or forty miles were under arms and ready for marching orders. From 
the official report of Col. Robert W. Baylor, in command of the Vir- 
ginia troops engaged in the recapture of the Ferry, to the governor 
of the Commonwealth, the following report of Col, Gibson is taken, 
which gives the status of affairs in a nutshell: 

* This occurred at Fouke's Hotel. 



436 histoey of the lower shenandoah valley. 

"Harper's Ferry, Oct. 18, 1859. 
" Henry A. Wise, Governor' of Virginia: 

">Sir.- — Your order per telegraph, dated &c., received. * * * 
On the morning of the 17th instant I received information at Charles- 
town that a band of abolitionists from the North had taken posses- 
sion of the Arsenal and workshops of the government located here; 
that they had killed several of our citizens, taken others and held 
them as prisoners, and that they had in possession a large number of 
slaves, who, on the night of the 16th inst. were forcibly taken from 
their masters. 

I " I immediately ordered out the 'Jefferson Guards '/and the citi- 
zens of Charlestown, which order was quickly responded to, and by 10 
o'clock A. M. they were armed and en route for this place. We left 
Charlestown with about one hundred men, and on reaching Halltown 
(midway between Charlestown and Harpers' Ferry), we learned that 
the insurgents were in large numbers, and we at once dispatched 
orders to Col. L. F. Moore, of Frederick county, and to the 'Ham- 
tramck Guards' and ' Shepherdstown Troop' to reinforce immediately)! 
/We reached Harper's Ferry about half past eleven o'clock A. m,, and 
took our position on Camp Hill. We immediately dispatched the 
' Jefferson Guards', commanded by Capt. J. W. Rowan and Lieuten- 
ants H. B. Davenport, E. H. Campbell and W. B. Gallaher, to cross 
the Potomac river about a mile west of the Ferry, and march down on 
the Maryland side and take possession of the Potomac bridge; and 
a company of the citizens of Charlestown and vicinity, commanded by 
Captain L. Botts and Lieut. F. Lackland, to cross the Winchester and 
Potomac railroad by way of Jefferson's Rock to take possession of the 
Gait House, in the rear of the Arsenal, and commanding the entrance 
to the Armory yard. Capt. John Avis and R. B. Washington, Esq., 
with a handful of men, were ordered to take possession of the houses 
commanding the yard of the Arsenal. All these orders were promptly 
executed. 

" Between three and four o'clock p. m., the Hamtramck Guards, 
ShepherdstoAvn Troop and a company from Martinsburg, commanded 
by Capt. E. Alburtis, arrived on the ground. The company from 
Winchester, commanded by R. B. Washington, arrived in the evening, 

" A\\ the insurgents, save those who were killed and wounded 
through the day, retired with their prisoners into the guard-house and 
engine room, just inside of the gate of the Armory yard, which was 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 437 

firmly locked. About three o'clock, the enemy, with the most prom- 
inent of their prisoners, concentrated in the engine room, leaving 
a large number of their prisoners fastened up in the guard-house. At 
this point, and after the arrival of the reinforcements from Shepherds- 
town and Martinsburg, Col. R. W. Baylor assumed the command, and 
will furnish you with the details of what followed. 

" Jno. Thos. Gibson, Oorad't 55th Regt." 

Col. Baylor, continuing the report, states as follows the details : 

"* * * iThe Hamtramck Guards and the Shepherdstown Troop, 
dismounted and armed with muskets, under my command, proceeded 
down High Street to the center of the town, in front of the Arsenal.] 
During this march the insurgents, having secreted themselves in the 
engine-house in the Armory yard, opened a brisk fire on Captain Al- 
burtis' company. * * * The firing was heavy, and the insurgents 
could not have retained their position many minutes, when the door 
of the engine-house was opened and they presented a white flag. The 
firing thereupon ceased, and I ordered the troops to draw up in line 
in front of the Arsenal. During this engagement and the previous 
skirmishes we had ten men wounded, two, I fear, mortally. The in- 
surgents had eleven killed, one mortally wounded and two taken pris- 
oners, leaving only five in the engine-house, and one of them seriously 
wounded. Thirty of our citizens were rescued from the guard-house, 
and they still held in the engine-house ten citizens and five slaves." 

Brown then sent under the flag of truce mentioned a verbal re- 
quest that he be permitted to cross the bridge with his remaining 
comrades and his prisoners, and after reaching a certain point on the 
Maryland side he would release his prisoners and then fight it out 
with the troops. This, of course, was not agreed to, but he was told 
that if he would set at liberty the prisoners, that he would be left 
with the Government to deal with him concerning their property. 
Col. Baylor's report again takes up the narrative of the succeeding 
events, from which we copy: 

"These terms were declined. Night by this time had set in, and 
the weather being very inclement, I thought it best for the safety of 
our citizens whom they held as prisoners, to cease operations for the 
night. Should I have ordered an attack at that hour, and in total 
darkness, our troops would have been as likely to have murdered our 
own citizens as the insurgents, all being in the same apartment. Hav- 
ing concluded to postpone another attack till morning, guards were 



438 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

posted around the armory, etc. * * * About 12 o'clock Col. 
Lee* arrived, having under his command eighty-five marines from 
Washington. The government troops took possession of the govern- 
ment property, and formed inside of the armory yard, in close prox- 
imity to the engine-house. In this position Col. Lee thought it best 
to remain until morning. The night passed without serious alarm, 
but not without intense excitement. It was agreed between Col. Lee 
and myself that the volunteer forces should form around on the out- 
side of the government property and clear the streets of all citizens 
and spectators", to prevent them firing random shots, to the great 
danger of our soldiers, and to remain in that position whilst he would 
attack? the engine-house with his marines.', As soon as day dawned, 
the troops were drawn up, in accordance with the above arrangement, 
after which Col. Lee demanded of the insurgents to surrender upon 
the terms I had before proposed to them, which they still declined. 
The marines were then ordered to force the doors. The attempt was 
made with heavy sledges, but proved inefPectual. They were then 
ordered to attack the doors with a heavy ladder, which was lying a 
short distance off. After two powerful efforts the door was shattered 
sufiiciently to obtain an entrance. Immediately a heavy volley was 
fired in by the marines, and an entrance effected, which soon termi- 
nated the conflict. In this engagement the marines had one killedj- 
and one slightly wounded. The insurgents had two killed and three 
taken prisoners. The firing ceased, and the imprisoned citizens walked 
out unhurt." 

The volunteers were then disbanded, all save the Jefferson Guards, 
who were retained in case of any disturbance arising. On Tuesday, 
information having been received that a large number of arms were 
secreted in a house on the mountain, the Independent Grays of Balti- 
more were dispatched to search for them. They returned in the even- 
ing, having found 200 Sharp's rifles, 200 revolvers, 23,000 percussion 
caps, 100,000 pistol percussion caps, ten kegs of gunpowder, 13,000 
ball cartridges for Sharp's rifles, one major-general's sword, 1,500 
pikes, and a large assortment of blankets and clothing of every de- 
scription. 

On Wednesday the prisoners were placed in the custody of the 
sheriff of Jefferson County and safely lodged in jail at Charlestown. 

* Afterward Gen. R. E. Lee, Confederate States Army.— Ed. 
tLuke Quinn.— Ed. 



JEFFEESON COUNTY. 441 

An eye-witness of a portion of the affair related the following to a 
reporter for a New York paper, which was published the day following 
the occurrence, October 18, 1859: 

" The first attack was made by a detachment of the Charlestown 
Guards, which crossed the Potomac river above Harper's Ferry and 
came down to the bridge on the Maryland side. The party of insur- 
gents on guard at the end of the bridge, were posted a little way off by 
the canal. Smart firing occurred, and the rioters were driven across 
the bridge. One man was killed and another arrested. A man ran 
out and tried to escape by swimming the river; a dozen shots Avere 
fired after him ; he partially fell, but rose again, threw his gun away 
and drew hi« pistols, but both snapped ; he drew his bowie-knife and 
cut his heavy accoutrements off and plunged into the river ; one of the 
soldiers was about ten feet behind, the man turned round, threw up 
his hands and said, 'Don't shoot!' The soldier fired and the man fell 
into the water with his face blown away. His coat-skirts were cut 
from his person and in the ]jockets was found a captain's commission, 
to Wm. H. Leeman from the Provisional Government. The com- 
mission was dated Oct. 15, 1859, and signed by 'John Brown, Com- 
mander in Chief of the Provisional Army,' and ' H. Kagi, Secre- 
tary of War.'\ A party of five of the insurgents, armed with rifles 
and posted in the rifle works, were expelled by the Charlestown 
Guards. They all ran for the river, and one, who was unable to swim, 
was drowned. The other four swam out to the rocks in the middle of 
the Shenandoah, but their position drew upon them the fire of 200 or 
300 men. One was shot dead; the second, a negro, attempted to jump 
over the dam, but fell, shot, and was not seen afterward; the third was 
badly wounded and captured, and the remaining one was taken unin- 
jured. The white insurgent, wounded and captured, died in a few 
moments afterward in the arms of our informant; he was shot through 
the breast and stomach. He declared-there were only nineteen whites en- 
gaged in the insurrection. For nearly an hour a random firing was kept 
up by the troops against the rioters. Several were shot down and many 
managed to limp away wounded. During the firing the women and 
children were very much frightened, but when they learned that the 
soldiers were their protectors, they did good service in preparing re- 
freshments and attending to the wounded. Most of the dead lay in 
the streets where they fell for some time after being shot. ] One of 
Brown's men crawled out of a culvert and attempted to cross the 

27 



^ 



442 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Potomac, but was shot in the middle o£ the river, falling dead on the 
rocks. I Aaron Stephens, a large, powerful man, came out of the 
armory conducting some prisoners, it was said, when he was shot 
twice, captured and taken to a tavern." 

When the insurgents were brought out after the storming of the 
engine-house, they presented a sad appearance. Some were wounded 
and others dead or dying. They were greeted with execrations, and 
only the precautions that had been taken, saved them from the exas- 
perated crowd, many of whom had relatives killed or wounded by the 
desperate gang of cut-throats. Nearly every man carried a gun, and 
the cry of "Shoot them! Shoot them!" rang on every side. Ouly 
the steadiness of the trained marines, under the command of that great 
soldier. Gen. Robert E. Lee, then an unknown colonel of the United 
■States Army, prevented the butchery of the entire gang of outlaws. 
Another soldier was at Harper's Ferry, and acted as dispatch bearer 
from Col. Lee to the invaders in the engine-house, who afterward 
made his mark. This was Lieut. Stuart, afterward the dashing, peer- 
less, brilliant and light-hearted Murat of the Civil war. Gen. J. E. B. 
Stuart, commander of the Cavalry forces of the Confederate States 
Army. Col. Lewis W. Washington stated that Brown acted not only 
bravely whilst in the engine-house, but courteously to all those con- 
fined with him there. 

The Trial. — The preliminary examination before the justice's 
court, Braxton Davenport presiding, occurred on the moruiug of Oc- 
tober 25, 1859, and after the examination of witnesses the prisoners 
John Brown, Aaron C. Stephens and Edwin Coppie, white; and 
Shields Green and John Copeland, colored, were again remanded into 
the custody of Sheriff Campbell, to await the convening of the Circuit 
Court, which assembled in the afternoon of the same day. Judge 
Richard Parker on the bench. The grand jury were called and the 
magistrate's court reported the result of their examination. The 
court then ordered the grand jury to retire with the witnesses of the 
State, which they proceeded to do, but not finishing their investiga- 
tions that evening adjourned till the next morning. At 12 o'clock, 
Wednesday, October 26, 1859, a true bill was found, and an indict- 
ment drawn up. This document has so rarely been made public, pos- 
sibly not since the events that gave rise to it, that it is reproduced 
here, as a matter of interest connected with one of tlie most historical 
trials that ever occurred in this country. Hon. Andrew Hunter was 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 443 

ihe author of it, assisted by the, prosecuting attorney, Charles B. 
Harding: ^ 

Judicial Circuit of Virginia, Jefferson County, to-wit. — The Jurors 
of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in and for the body of the County 
of Jefferson, duly impanneled, and attending upon the Circuit Court 
•of said county, upon their oaths do present that John Brown, Aaron 
C. Stephens, alias Aaron D. Stephens, and Edwin Coppie, white men, 
and Shields Green and John Copeland, free negroes, together with 
divers other evil-minded and traitorous persons to the Jurors unknown, 
not having the fear of God before their eyes, but being moved and 
seduced by the false and malignant counsel of other evil and traitor- 
ous persons and the instigations of the devil, did, severally on the six- 
teenth, seventeenth and eighteenth days of the month of October, in 
the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, and on divers 
other days before and after that time, within the commonwealth of 
Virginia, and the county of Jefferson aforesaid, and within the juris- 
diction of this court, with other confederates to the jurors unknown, 
feloniously and traitorously make rebellion and levy war against the 
said Commonwealth of Virginia, and to effect, carry out, and fulfill 
"their said wicked and treasonable ends and purposes did, then and 
there, as a band of organized soldiers, attack, seize, and hold a certain 
part and place within the county and State aforesaid, and within the 
jurisdiction aforesaid, known and called by the name of Harper's Ferry, 
and then and there did forcibly capture, make prisoners of, and detain 
divers good and loyal citizens of said commonwealth, to wit: Lewis 
W. Washington, John M. Alstadt, Archibald M. Kitzmiller, Benjamin 
J. Mills, John E. P. Dangerfield, Armstead Ball, John Donoho, and 
did then and there slay and murder, by shooting with firearms, called 
-Sharpe's rifles, divers good and loyal citizens of said Commonwealth, 
to wit: Thomas Boerly, George W. Turner, Fontaine Beckham, to- 
gether with Luke Quinn, a soldier of the United States, and Hayward 
Sheppard, a free negro, and did then and there, in manner aforesaid, 
wound divers other good and loyal citizens of said commonwealth, and 
did then and there feloniously and traitorously establish and set up, 
without authority of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Vir- 
ginia, a government, separate from, and hostile to, the existing gov- 
ernment of said Commonwealth;/ and did then and there hold and 
exercise divers ofiices under said usurped government, to wit: the 
said John Brown as Commander-in-Chief of the military forces; the 
said Aaron C. Stephens, alias Aaron D. Stephens, as Captain; the 
said Edwin Coppie as Lieutenant; and the said Shields Green and 
John Copeland as soldiers; and did then and there require and com- 
pel obedience to said ofiicers ; and did then and there hold and profess 
allegiance and fidelity to said usurped govei"nment, and under color 
of the usurped authority aforesaid, did then and there resist forcibly, 
■and with warlike arms, the execution of the laws of the Commonwealth 



444 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of Virginia, and with firearms did wound and maim divers other good 
and loyal citizens o£ said Commonwealth, to the jurors unknown, 
when attempting with lawful authority, to uphold and maintain said 
constitution and laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and for the 
purpose, end, and aim of overthrowing and abolishing the constitution 
and laws of said commonwealth, and establishing in the place thereof, 
another and different government, and constitution and laws hostile 
thereto, did then and there, feloniously and traitorously, and in military 
array, join in open battle and deadly warfare Avith the civil officers and 
soldiers in the lawful service of the said Commonwealth of Virginia, 
and did then and there shoot and discharge divers guns and pistols, 
charged with gunpowder and leaden bullets, against and upon divers 
parties of the militia and volunteers embodied and acting under the 
command of Colonel Eobert W. Baylor, and of Colonel John Thomas 
Gibson, and other officers of the commonwealth, with lawful authority 
to quell and subdue the said John Brown, Aaron C. Stephens, Edwin 
Coppie, Shields Green, and John Copeland and other rebels and traitors 
assembled, organized and acting with them as aforesaid, to the evil 
example of all others in like case offending, and against the peace and 
dignity of the Commonwealth." 

The above shows with what accuracy the indictment was drawn, 
and the care exhibited to guard against all flaws that might creep in 
to prevent the full consummation of justice without any resort to 
irregular methods. The second count in the indictment charges the 
prisoners with inciting slaves to insurrection ; the third count charges 
them with the willful murder of all five of the victims ; Boerly, Turner 
and Beckham, citizens, and Luke Quinn, the marine, and Hayward 
Shepherd, the negro, who were non-residents; whilst the fourth count 
charges them with the murder of the three citizens separately. 

The prisoners were brought into court, accompanied by a body of 
armed men, whilst cannon guarded the court-house. They came from 
the jail and entered the court-room without the slightest demonstra- 
tion on the part of the people, notwithstanding their terrible crimes. 

The details of the trial of Brown, which occurred first, ending in 
his conviction, and hanging on December 2, 1859, is so well known 
that it needs no recital here. The other prisoners were tried subse- 
quently, and all of them expiated their crimes on the gallows. An 
eye-witness of the scene, a reporter for a Northern newspaper, who 
published his account at the time, says, in speaking of the moment 
when the jury pronounced Brown "Guilty": 

"Not the slightest sound was heard in the vast crowd, as the verdict 
was returned and read. Not the slightest expression of elation or 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 445 

triumph was uttered from the hundreds present, who, a moment before, 
outside the court, joined in heaping threats and imprecations on his 
head; nor was this strange silence interrupted during the whole of 
the time occupied by the forms of the court. Old Brown himself said 
not a word, but, as on a previous day, turned to adjust his pallet, and 
then composedly stretched himself upon it." 

When Judge Parker pronounced sentence on the prisoner, he re- 
ceived it with composure. And the writer quoted above further says : 
"The only demonstration made was by the clapping of the hands of 
one man in the crowd, who is not a resident of Jefferson County. 
This was 2'>'^'ompthj suppressed, and much regret is expressed at its 
occurrence." 

From the splendid charge of Judge Parker to the grand jury, who 
found the indictment against the conspirators, the following extract is 
taken, which shows the spirit of fairness in a Virginian judge even 
under the most exasperating of circumstances. 

u* * * jjj ^Y\ your presentments you shall present the truth, 
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Do but this, gentlemen, 
and you will have fulfilled your duty. Go beyond this, and in place 
of that diligent inquiry and calm investigation which you have sworn 
to make, act upon prejudice or from excitement or passion, and you 
will have done a wrong to that law in whose services you are engaged. 
As I said before, those men are now in the hands of justice. They 
are to have a fair and impartial trial. We owe it to the cause of jus- 
tice, as well as to our own characters, that such a trial shall be afforded 
them." 

In regard to the fairness of the trial of Brown, if Baron Yon 
Hoist had taken the trouble to examine the records of this famous 
case, he would not have made such a blunder, and he would have saved 
himself from being guilty of charging with dishonor the venerable 
and respected Judge Parker, who for integrity and honor and legal 
attainments has no superior here or in any other country. If this 
biased writer had sought out the brief speech that John Brown made 
after his conviction, he would have found these words: 

'■^ Let me say one word further. I feel entirely satisfied with the 
treatment I have received on my trial. Considering all the circum- 
stances, it has been more generous than I expected.''^ 

These words of Brown, without the additional testimony of Hon. 
Daniel W. Voorhees, who defended Cooke, are sufficient to brand the 



446 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

falsifier with deserved and lasting obloquy. Mr. Voorhees was- 
employed by Gov. Willard, of Indiana, who was a brother-in-law of 
John E. Cooke, to defend that young man. Mr. Yoorhees, in his 
speech at the close of the case of Cooke, said in part: 

u * * # J would not be true to the dictates of my own heart 
and judgment did I not bear voluntary and emphatic witness to the- 
wisdom and patient kindness of his honor on the bench; the manly 
and generous spirit which has characterized the counsel for the prose- 
cution ; the scrupulous truthfulness of witnesses who have testified,, 
and the decorum and justness of the juries, etc." 

On the opposite page is an approximate fac simile of the commis- 
sion found on the body of Leeman after he was killed. The original 
is in the possession of a gentleman of Jefferson County, who has th& 
rare document framed and hung up in his parlor. It is, doubtless, 
the only one in existence, and is highly prized. 

The names of all those who are known to have been engaged in the- 
affair with Brown are as follows: John Brown, Oliver Brown, Watson 
Brown, Owen Brown, Aaron (^. Stephens, ^^dwin Coppie, Barclay 
Coppie, Albert Haslett, John E. Cook, Stewart Taylor, William H. 
Leeman, William Thompson, Dolph Thompson, John H. Kagi, Charles. 
P. Tidd, Oliver Anderson, Jeremiah Anderson, Dangerfield Newly, 
Shields Green (called "Emperor"), John Copeland and Lewis Leary. 
The citizens confined in the engine-house were: Col. L. W. Washing- 
ton, John Alstadt, J. E. P. Dangerfield, A. M. Ball, Benjamin Mills,- 
John Donohoo, Terrence Byrne, Israel Russell and Mr. Schoppe. ) 

Note. — A very affecting little incident, born in the brain of a versatile reporter, 
gained currency many years ago, to the effect that when Brown was on his way to the 
scaffold he stopped, and taking a negro babe from its mother's arms, kissed it. There 
was not the slightest chance for any one save his guard getting near the convicted 
man, as he was carried to execution, much less a negro, all of whom made themselves 
particularly scarce about that time. An outsider could not get within twenty feet 
of the convicted felon. 



448 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

CEEATION OF CLARKE AND SOME EAELY MATTERS. 

Some Noted Early Settlers— Famous Old Families— Kich Lands and 
Fine Scenery— Organization of the Courts — First Officers and 
Lawyers— Building of Court-house—" Prison Bounds " Established— 
Where and What They Were— Curious Old Law— Anecdotes of the 
Custom— " Swearing Out"— List of Justices— A Blank From 1861 to 
1864 — Military Rule— Reconstruction— List of Clerks and Sher- 
iffs — Gen. George Rogers Clarke — Gen. Daniel Morgan — Additional 
Facts about the Old Wagoner— Soldiers' Rest — Morgan's Stone 
Pile Forts — Washington's Surveyor's Office— G. W. Fairfax — The 
Soldier-Parson, Rev. Charles Mynn Thruston— Sketch of the Old 
Patriot — Old Alexandria Road— Braddock's March — Hessian Pris- 
oners—The English Officer and Mrs. Ashby — Lord Dunmore's Ex- 
pedition—The Old Chapel— Cunningham's Older Structure— The 
Ancient Graveyard. 

ALTHOUGH Clarke County was one of the last counties formed 
in Virginia, yet the territory comprising it was one of the ear- 
liest sections to be settled west of the Blue Ridge mountains. Not 
only were there a number of large plantations laid out as far back as 
1740, in this region, and even earlier than this date, but several fam- 
ilies whose descendants have been prominent in the history of the 
State located here. Thomas Ashby, the progenitor of that courtly 
soldier. Gen. Turner Ashby, came to what is now Clarke before 1743, 
and Gen. Daniel Morgan, the "Revolutionary Thunderbolt" was 
here before 1750, having removed when about thirteen or fourteen 
years of age, from (it is supposed) New Jersey with his father, mother 
and a sister. In this old section also lived the Hamptons, undoubt- 
edly the ancestors of those who have since become famous, as well in 
peace as war. Here lived the sturdy Huguenot, Marquis Calmes, one 
of that grand old French stock, which has given to the world some of 
its best citizens and defenders of liberty in all its phases. Many of 
the descendants of the cavaliers who gave character and fame to the 
Virginia of the seventeenth century emigrated to Frederick County after 
the settlement of the old French war, and their names are here to-day. 
Some of them after the American Revolution sought the rich lands of 



CLARKE COUNTY. 449 

Kentucky, and gave to that State the characteristics their ancestors had 
stamped upon the old Commonwealth. The Carters, the Pages, Bur- 
wells, Peytons, Randolphs, Meades, McCormicks, Wormleys, Moores, 
Lewises, Norrises, and a host of others now almost forgotten.* Here 
for many years resided that patriotic soldier-parson, Rev. Charles Mynn 
Thruston, a colonel in the Revolutionary army, and here also, in this 
same Clarke, His Lordship Thomas of Fairfax chose to build him a 
home, and where, after a residence of thirty-two years, he died. What 
the charm for Lord Fairfax was for this section is not now known, but 
it is presumed the choice was influenced by association. When the 
proprietor of the Northern Neck came to Frederick in 1749, there were 
a number of socially prominent persons, who had taken up their abode 
in the section where he built Greenway Court. True, it is, however, 
that out of a domain of over 5,000,000 acres of the finest land on the 
globe, the old bachelor lord selected for his home some of his most 
unpromising acres. 

The county is comparatively small, but it is one of the richest and 
most productive in the State. It is seventeen miles long and ten 
miles wide. The Shenandoah River flows through the eastern portion 
of the county and the Opequon Creek on its western border. It is 
thus well watered. The surface is gently undulating, well drained, 
and produces wheat, corn, clover and timothy, whilst blue grass is in- 
digenous, and forms the same sod that the famous Blue Grass region 
of Kentucky furnishes. The land east of the Shenandoah is mostly 
upland and mountainous, and is covered with valuable timber. That 
portion lying between the two streams named, although there are two 
distinct geological formations within it, is highly productive. Where- 
ever a space is cleared on the mountain side or top, blue grass sponta- 
neously springs up, which affords for cattle and sheep the finest past- 
urage. The formation is limestone, but there is a belt of slate run- 
ning north and south through the entire county, ranging from one and 
a half miles to three miles in width, being a portion of that curious 
geological freak of which mention has been made previously in this 
work. Yet this slate land is made to produce by proper manipulation 
as fine crops as any other lands in the county. Building stone of a 
superior quality may be obtained upon almost any farm, and the best 
lime is produced at will. The adjacent mountains are rich in various 
minerals, and much iron ore has been shipped for manufacture to fur- 

* For a more extended notice of the early settlers of Clarke, see Chapter IV of this work. 



450 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

naces iu Pennsylvania. The climate is exceedingly healthful, and 
epidemics are almost unknown. The population is intelligent and 
enterprising, and the farms are generally highly improved. 

County Court. — With the many natural advantages of Clarke 
County, containing all the elements of independence requisite for 
county autonomy, not until so late a date as 1836 did its citizens move 
for and obtain separate county organization. On the first page of the 
first order book of the justices is to be found the following record of 
the proceedings of the first court: 

"At a Court held for the County of Clarke on the 28th day of 
March, 1836, under the act of Assembly passed on the 8th day of 
March, 1836, when John E. Page was appointed Clerk pro tempore, 
a commission was produced from the Governor appointing as Magis- 
trates of the said County of Clarke the following persons, to wit: 
George H. Norris, Treadwell Smith, David Meade, James AViggenton, 
Edward J. Smith, Nathaniel Burwell, John W. Page, John Hay, 
Francis B. Whiting, Philip Smith, Robert Page, Francis McCormick 
and Jacob Isler, Esquires, whereupon the several oaths of ofiice pre- 
scribed by law Avere administered to the said parties by Bushrod C. 
Washington, Esq., a justice of the peace commissioned and on service 
for the County of Jefferson. Present, George H. Norris and the 
above-named justices. 

" The court then proceeded to the election of a Clerk, when John 
Hay, receiving a majority of the votes of the justices, was declared 
duly elected Clerk of Clarke County, and entered into bonds in the sum 
of three thousand dollars, with William Taylor, Charles Butler, 
Province McCormick, George H. Burwell and Joshua H. Thomas as 
his sureties. The oaths of office being administered to Mr. Hay, he 
entered upon the duties of the same, being elected for the term of 
seven years. 

"George H. Norris, Treadwell Smith and David Meade were 
recommended to the Governor as suitable persons to fill the office of 
Sheriff, and shortly afterward George H. Norris was appointed to the 
position. Dr. Robert C. Randolph was recommended as Coroner. 
John Ship was recommended for Escheator of the county. John E. 
Page was appointed Commonwealth's Attorney by the Justices. Dan- 
iel S. Bonham was made Surveyor of the county for seven years. 
William R. Seevers was appointed Crier of the Court. Samuel B. 
Redman was appointed Constable for the county." 



CLARKE COUNTY. 451 

At this first court the county was divided into three districts for the 
benefit of the overseers of the poor; the academy of Battletown wa& 
selected as the place in which to hold' the meetings of the court until 
a court-house should be erected, and a house was ordered to be selected 
for use as a jail. 

The following gentlemen Avere admitted to practice their profes- 
sion — the law: Washington G. Singleton, John E. Page, Gary Selden 
Page, Pichard Parker, Thomas A. Moore, Richard E. Byrd. Province 
McCormick, Lewis Glover, Robert Y. Conrad and Robert M. Page. 
At April court following, Philip Williams, Jr., Giles Cooke, John A. 
Thompson, Charles B. Harding and David McGuire were also admit- 
ted to practice, and at May court A. S. Tidball, Joseph T, Daugherty 
and James M. Mason were granted the same privilege. 

The first grand jnry empaneled were: Mann R. Page, foreman; 
John Greenlee, James McCormick, Thomas Gold, Jacob Luke, James 
V. Glass, Thomas Jackson, Jacob Shirely, Paul Pierce, Isaac McCor- 
mick, Henry Mark, James P. Hughes, Abraham Haines, John Bur- 
chell, John Hewitt and Richard Ridgway. They found no present- 
ments, and were discharged. First license taken out to keep an 
ordinary (tavern) was issued to Bennett Russell, and the next was to 
Squire Treadwell Smith, one of the justices, it appearing, according 
to the records of the court entered at the time, that " he (said Smith) 
is a person of good character, not addicted to drunkenness or gaming, 
and that he will keep an orderly and useful house of entertainment." 
The old squire being thus highly endorsed by the court and approved 
by himself (he being one of the court), he invited himself and his 
brothers of the bench, after adjournment, to his hostelry, where they 
partook of the good cheer set before them by the generous host. 
Eighteen dollars was the fee for an ordinary license. There were a 
number of other taverns running at this time, but their licenses in 
Frederick County had not as yet expired. Smith's tavern was a new 
one then. 

George S. Lane's lot was chosen as a suitable site for the public 
buildings, and Treadwell Smith, David Meade, Edward J. Smith, Na- 
thaniel Burwell and John AV. Page were appointed to prepare plans 
for the court house, jail and clerk's ofiice, and to report to the next 
court the first day of the month. Some time afterward, two plans were 
submitted, one by David Meade and the other by D. H. Allen, when 
the plan of Mr. Meade was adopted. At June court, H. H. Lee was. 



452 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

made deputy clerk of the court, and Samuel Bryarly, Samuel Bonham, 
Charles McCormick, William Berry and David Meade were appointed 
school commissioners of the county. 

In accordance with a law of the commonwealth for the establish- 
ment of what was known as " prison bounds " in those old days of 
imprisonment for debt, the justices of Clarke County ordered the lay- 
ing off of the "bounds" in the following order: "That the prison 
bounds and rules of this county shall be as follows, to wit: from the 
west end of Treadwell Smith's Hotel to the west corner of the Brick 
house which is occupied by Horace P. Smith as an iron store, and ex- 
tending as far on each side of the street running through Berryville 
as to contain Ten acres, and that the Surveyor of the County be 
directed to lay out the bounds and report to this Court." 

For the benefit of the younger readers of this work, as well as 
some older ones who may not have kept in mind the old institution of 
"prison bounds," a few words of explanation may be appropriate here. 
At the time when, if a debtor refused to pay his debts, the creditor 
could have him arrested and imprisoned in the county jail, rules were 
established by which an unfortunate could continue at his business and 
nominally be a prisoner as well. There were three horns to the 
dilemma of the debtor : one was to pay the debt outright ; another was 
to go to prison, either in the jail, or at his home if it lay within 
" prison bounds," and the other was what was termed " swearing out " 
— which meant, for him to take an oath before a magistrate that he 
was not able to pay his debts. Some persons preferred going to 
prison (if they lived inside the bounds) and they could thereby evade 
the payment of the debt against them ; but if they chose this mode of 
evasion they must give bail (and sometimes heavy bail) that they 
would not leave the prison bounds; they could go up to the line laid 
out all around, like a caged animal in a menagerie, but if they made 
one step outside the limit, their bondsmen had to forfeit the amount of 
the bail. Occasionally a bondsman would become suspicious of the 
escape of his man; so, he could step up to him at any time and march 
him off to the prison aud hand him over to the jailer, thereby releas- 
ing himself of the bonds he had entered into. Instances were not 
wanting where men, comparatively wealthy, would undergo this quasi- 
confinement rather than pay a just debt. One noted case of this kind 
occurred in Winchester many years ago. A gentleman in business 
chose to be confined within prison bounds, and remained so situ- 



CLARKE COUNTY. 453 

ated for several years ; he could go about over a large section of the 
ancient town, but as the "bounds" in one direction ran across a por- 
tion of his property, he could not step across an alley to his stable, 
and the church wherein he would wish to worship lay just outside his 
"prisoners' base." An instance of "swearing out" has been related 
to the writer, by an old gentleman of Charlestown. A tolerably tough, 
elderly character, much given to using profane language — in fact a 
notorious swearer — was confined in the jail of Jefferson County, and 
on one particular occasion stood at the window behind the bars and 
" cussed " everybody, high an^ low. An aged darky passing along, 
and not understanding the process of a debtor making oath to get rid 
of his debts, asked the jailer if the prisoner was "swearing out." 

The prison bounds of Clarke County as spread upon the records 
and quoted above are not so easily understood at this day, and it was 
with some difiiculty that the writer traced the limits out. The " brick 
building " mentioned has long since disappeared, and, singular to say, 
nearly everybody has forgotten that there was a very large " iron- 
store " kept at the county seat. One gentleman, however, set the 
matter right. The Treadwell Smith hotel, of course, is well known, 
and the other building stood on the north side of the main street of 
Berryville, about at the foot of the first rise east of the Millwood pike 
or cross street. The store room was elevated several steps above the 
level of the street, and was used for various purposes after Horace P. 
Smith discontinued his business in it. It was taken down many years 
ago, and there is not a trace of it left. The bounds extended between 
the two buildings named and as far back of the street on both sides 
as to comprise an area of ten acres. 

Following is a list of the justices from the first commission of the 
peace issued by the governor in 1836: 

1836. — George H. Norris, Treadwell Smith, David Meade, James 

Wiggenton, Edward J. Smith, Nathaniel Burwell, John W. Page, John 

Hay, Francis B. Whiting, Philip Smith, Robert Page, Francis McCor- 

mick, Jacob Isler, Josiah W. Ware, William Taylor, James M. Hite, 

William Berry, Thomas F. Nelson,^ David H. Allen, Joshua H. 

Thomas. 

V . ^ 

1839. — Mann R. Page, Lorenzo Lewis, George Kerfoot, Reubea 

Jordan, James Green. 

1850. — Edward W. Massey, Benjamin Morgan, Thomas McCor- 

mick, Philip N. Meade. 



454: HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

The process of appointment o£ the justices by the State autliority 
being changed by the new constitution, an election occurred which re- 
sulted in the choice ot" the following gentlemen whose terms of office 
began January 1, 1852: 

Presiding justice, Benjamin Morgan; John Dow, Richard K. 
Meade, A. M. Earle, Seth Mason, William Strother, Hugh M. Nelson, 
N. B. Balthrope, John W. Sowers, William G. Hardesty, Josiah J. 
■Janney, Stephen J. Gant, Archibald Eoweu, William A. Castleman, 
Francis McCormick, Josiah W. Ware, 

Following are the results of the succeeding elections: 

1856. — Presiding justice, Francis McCormick; Alex. M. Earle, 
Beverly Randolph, Richard K. Meade, John Page, Josiah J. Janney, 
Bennett Russell, Ammi Sbaddai Moore, William G. Hardesty, Will- 
iam A. Castleman, Eli Littleton, Benjamin Morgan, William N. Nel- 
son, Nathaniel Burwell, James W. Conrad, John Morgan. 

1860. — Presiding justice, William G. Hardesty; Beverly Ran- 
dolph, Alex M. Earle, Richard K. Meade, John Page, Ammi Shaddai 
Moore, John J. Riely, George C. Blakemore, Francis McCormick, 
Benjamin Morgan, William A. Castleman, Lewis F. Glass, William 
■Strother, John Morgan, Thomas L. Humphrey. 

A blank in the proceedings of the courts of Clarke occurs from 
about 1861 till the close of hostilities, everybody being too intent 
upon weightier work than holding sessions of county courts. The 
.^reat trial of North vs. South was before the tribunal of arms, and 
when the god of battles gave his decision, the gallant, though crushed 
and humbled Southland stood (for she did not grovel in the dust) at 
the mercy of the victor. Here is a portion of the process by which 
•Clarke has again come to rule herself: 

July Term, 1865, Clarke County. 

Whereas the convention held in Alexandria, in 1864, passed as a 
portion of their business, an ordinance making vacant all the offices 
of Yirginia, and an election was held under the superintendence of 
Charles Boxwell, John W. Beemer and John Bromley, commissioners 
to superintend the election in Clarke county. Said election was held 
on the 25th day of May, 1865, and the following justices were elected: 

District No. 1.— William W. Meade, Joseph Mitchell, Jacob B. 
Yorous, James H. Bitzer. 

District No. 2. — David Wade, Robert B, Wood, John Bromley, 
Martin Gaunt. 



CLARKE COUNTY. ' 455 

District No. 3. — William D. McGuire, Matthew Pulliam, Aaron 
Diible, William D. Smith. 

District No. 4. — Nathaniel Burwell, Thomas L. Humphrey, John 
Morgan, Jackson Wheeler. 

Wheeler declined to serve, and E. E. Haines being appointed, also 
resigned, when J. M. Gibson was elected to fill the position. Will- 
iam D. McGuire was elected by the board presiding justice. The 
court-house being much injured, it was ordered to be put in repair, 
and W. D. McGuire, Martin Gaunt and Matthew Pulliam were ap- 
pointed a committee to see that it was done properly. Samuel J. C 
Moore and Edwin B. Mantor applied for admission to the bar, which 
was granted. 

The justices last named served till the military came into power, as 
will be seen by the folk)wing, copied verbatim from the records: 

"At a session of the county court of Clarke county, held at the 
court house in Berryville Monday, April 12, 1869, under the authority 
of the 2d Paragraph of General Orders No. 38, dated March 29, 
1869, Headquarters First Military District. 

"Present: John Morgan, Esq., and John Bromley, Esq., the only 
two justices heretofore elected and commissioned, who have taken the 
oath prescribed by the act of the Congress of the United States, 
dated July 2d, 1862, and present also Jarvis Jennings, Esq., who has 
been appointed by the military commander of District No. 1, a justice 
of the peace for the 1st District of this county, to fill the vacancy 
caused by the removal of Joseph T. Mitchell from oflice in accordance 
with general orders No. 24, dated March 15, 1869, and Samuel L. 
Pidgeon, Esq., who has been appointed as aforesaid to fill the vacancy 
caused by the removal of Daniel Wade from office, the said Jarvis 
Jennings and Samuel L. Pidgeon being the only two justices appointed 
as aforesaid for this county who have taken the oath prescribed by the 
act of the Congress of the United States, dated July 2, 1862, the 
court consisting of John Morgan, John Bromley, Jarvis Jennings and 
Samuel L. Pidgeon, gentlemen, justices." 

The court was opened by the clerk acting in the place of the 
sheriff, making proclamation in the usual form, there being nobody in 
the county qualified to take the oath as sheriff. The four justices then 
proceeded to elect one of their number presiding justice, when Jarvis 
Jennings was chosen. 

J. Hayes Shields, C. B., who had been appointed commonwealth's 



456 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

attorney by the military commander of District No. 1, stepped up and 
took the oath. John AVriglit was appointed commissioner of the reve- 
nue in place of James W. Johnston, removed, and John W. Beemer 
was honored with the sheriffalty, vice Washington Deamont, removed 
by the same high authority. 

The second clerk of the courts, D. H. McGuire, who succeeded 
John Hay in 1852, remained in ofl&ce until 1865, when Lewis F. Glass 
was elected, and retained the place till 1869, at which time George 
Glass was appointed under the reconstruction or military government, 
serving till 1870, when he was appointed by Judge White, who had 
been elected by the Legislature of the State as judge of Clarke 
County Court; S. J. C. Moore was at the same time appointed com- 
monwealth's attorney and Robert P. Morgan sherifp. In November, 
1870, George Glass was elected for a four years' term as clerk, at the 
expiration of which time the present incumbent, John M. Gibson, was 
elected. Judge White resigned his position after serving some time, 
and Judge J. H. Sherrard, of Frederick County, was assigned, in the 
latter part of 1871, to serve in his stead. In January, 1872, Hon. 
John E. Page, having been elected by the Legislature judge of the 
county court, presided till 1880, when Judge R. A. Finnell was 
elected. In 1886 Hon. Giles Cooke, Jr., the present incumbent, was 
elected. 

Circuit Court. — On July 30, 1836, Judge Richard E. Parker con- 
vened a special term of the circuit superior court of law and chancery 
for the county of Clarke. Hugh Holmes Lee was appointed clerk, 
and John Hay deputy clerk of the court. The judges have, of course, 
been the same as those in Frederick County, and a repetition is 
needless. 

Following is a list of the clerks of the two Clarke County courts, 
which positions, it will be seen, were merged into one individual in 
1852; also a list of the sheriffs to the present time: 

County Court.— John Hay, from 1836 to 1852; David H. McGuire, 
1852 to 1865; Lewis F. Glass, 1865 to 1869; George Glass, 1869 to 
1875; John M. Gibson, 1875— still in office (1890). 

Circuit Court.— Hugh Holmes Lee, 1836 to 1852; David H. Mc- 
Guire, 1852 to 1865; Lewis F. Glass, 1865 to 1869; George Glass, 
1869 to 1875; John M. Gibson, 1875— still in office (1890). 

Sheriffs. — George H. Norris, appointed 1836; Treadwell Smith, 
1837-38; James Wiggenton, 1839-40; Edward J. Smith, 1841-42; 



CLARKE COUNTY. 457 

John W. Page, 1843-44; Philip Smith, 1845-47; Francis McCormick, 
1847-48; Jacob Isler, 1849-51; Josiah W. Ware, 1852; Eben T. 
Hancock, 1852; Joseph F. Ryan, 1857; AVashington Ferguson, 1865; 
Washington Deamont, 1867; John W. Beemer, appointed by the mili- 
tary, 1869; Robert P. Morgan, appointed by court, 1870; John T. 
Crow, 1873 to 1887; George W. Levi, 1887— still in office (1890). 

Clarke County was named in honor of Gen. George Rogers Clarke, 
the gallant and intrepid soldier of the Revolution, sometimes termed 
" the Hannibal of the West," and a short sketch of the most important 
portion of his career may not be inappropriate here. Virginia, up to 
the close of the Revolution comprised, in addition to the territory now 
known as the two Virginias, the now great States of Ohio, Indiana and 
Illinois. This western territory, January 2, 1781, Virginia ceded to 
the United States, i. e., gave outright this empire to the general gov- 
ernment, with the desire of accelerating the ratification of the articles 
of confederation of the proposed union of all the former colonies. To 
protect this portion of her domain the Old Commonwealth had upon 
her western border one of her sons in the person of General Clarke, 
who not only saved her back settlements from Indian fury, but planted 
her standard beyond the Ohio. The governor of the Canadian settle- 
ments in the Illinois country, by every possible method, instigated the 
Indians to annoy the frontier. Virginia placed a force of about 250 
men under Clarke, who, descending the Ohio River, hid their boats and 
marched northerly, with their provisions on their backs. These being 
consumed, they subsisted for two days on roots, and in a state of 
famine appeared before Kaskaskia, unseen and unheard. At midnight 
they surprised and took the town and fort, which had resisted a much 
larger force; then, seizing the golden moment, sent a detachment 
which, with equal success, surprised three other towns. Rocheblave, 
the obnoxious governor, was sent to Virginia, and on his person were 
found written instructions from Quebec to excite the Indians to hos- 
tilities, and to reward them for scalps of the Americans. The settlers 
of the Illinois country transferred their allegiance to Virginia, and it 
was erected into a county to be called Illinois. Few men but Clarke 
could have preserved this valuable acquisition. The English governor 
of Detroit, Hamilton, a bold, tyrannical and determined man, resolved, 
with an overwhelming force of British and Indians, to penetrate up 
the Ohio to Fort Pitt, sweep all the principal settlements away, and 
besiege Kaskaskia itself. Gen. Clarke despaired of keeping posses- 

28 



458 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

sion of the country, but resolved to do so or die in its defense, and, 
when a brave man thus determines, Providence seems to come to his 
aid, for whilst strengthening his fortifications he obtained information 
that Hamilton had sent his Indians against the frontier, considering 
himself secure. This information, to the genius of Clarke, was seized 
upon with the rapidity of lightning, for his fertile brain recognized 
not only safety, but new glory. To resolve to attack Hamilton before 
he could collect his Indian allies was the work of an instant. With a 
band of 150 hardy and gallant comrades, he marched across the coun- 
try in February, 1779. After many difficulties in the swampy lands 
of the Wabash, they arrived in front of the enemy's fort without being 
suspected of any such movement, and after a siege of eighteen hours 
the fort surrendered, without the loss of a man to the besiegers. The 
governor was sent prisoner to Williamsburg, and considerable stores 
fell into their hands. Clarke also intercepted a convoy from Canada, 
on the way to Hamilton's post, when the mail was captured, forty addi- 
tional prisoners, and goods to the value of $45,000; and still further, 
to add to the laurels of the dauntless Clarke, an express arrived from 
Virginia with the thanks to her conquering son of the General Assem- 
bly. As an instance of Gen. Clarke's utter fearlessness and cool- 
ness under circumstances that were calculated to unnerve the best of 
men, an anecdote is related in an old publication entitled "Notes of an 
Old Officer": At the treaty of Fort Washington, where Clarke had 
but seventy men, 300 Shawnees appeared in the council chamber. 
Their chief made a boisterous speech, and then placed on the table a 
belt of white and black wampum, to intimate they were ready for 
either peace or war, while his 300 savages applauded him by a terrific 
yell. At the table sat Clarke with only two or three other persons. 
Clarke, who was leaning on his elbow, with apparent unconcern, with 
his rattan coolly pushed the wampum on to the floor. Then rising as 
the savages muttered tlieir indignation, he trampled on the belt, and 
with a look of stern defiance and a voice of thunder that made the 
stoutest heart quail, bade them instantly to quit the hall. They in- 
voluntarily left, and the next day sued for peace. Gen. Clarke died 
in Kentucky in 1817. He had a brother, Gen. William Clarke, who 
was scarcely less distinguished. 

Gen. Daniel Morgan, as is well known, was a resident of Clarke 
County (or rather that portion of Frederick now known as Clarke). 
He came there with his father, mother and a sister, as stated elsewhere 



CLARKE COUNTY. 459 

Id this work, when he was, probably, about ten years of age, for there 
is is an old gentleman now living in Winchester, ninety years of age, 
whose grandmother knew young Morgan before 1750, and he was then 
not fifteen years of age, having been born in 1735. Morgan's parents 
first lived on a small farm in Avhat is now the northern edge of Warren 
County, but when he grew up and had sown his wild oats in a large 
degree, he purchased from a Mr. Morton the place known as " Soldier's 
Rest." near Berryville. But just how this place got its name, is difii- 
cult to determine. There is no evidence that Morgan had any military 
experience until he was appointed captain of militia in 1771 by Col. 
Samuel Washington. On the contrary, the records of Frederick County 
show that he was here, by his figuring in numerous lawsuits, covering 
a period of over fifteen years from 1756. It is altogether probable 
that the name "Soldier's Rest," was given to Morgan's residence dur- 
ing the latter part of the Revolution and before he built "Saratoga," 
in 1781, but it is more likely that the name arose after the Revolu- 
tion, when the farm of Morgan would naturally make famous any local- 
ity where he had resided. Whilst he lived at this place, for- several 
years before 1775, tradition states that he contributed largely in con- 
ferring on the little village near by him the soubriquet of Battle Town. 
There is no doubt that Daniel Morgan was very much given to brawls 
and hilarity of all degrees, for the court records of Frederick county, 
as stated in another chapter of this work, show him as defendant in 
numerous cases of assault and battery. It is said that Daniel fre- 
quently came into the village in the evening for a night's sport, and 
that he always placed at convenient distances from his home to the 
tavern he frequented in the town, piles of stones, so that in case of a 
retreat he would have ammunition with which to check the enemy if 
he became too numerous, the old strategist well knowing that he was 
bound to get into a fracas whenever he went to the village. About 200 
yards from what is left of "Soldier's Rest" Washington and his com- 
panion, George W. Fairfax, both being about seventeen years of age, 
are said to have had a small building which they used as an office and 
place of lodging whilst surveying in this region. The tradition may 
be correct, but there was scarcely any necessity for the use of such an 
office when their patron and employer, and relative of one of them, at 
least, lived at his fine residence not far away. Lord Fairfax, at "Green- 
way Court," would have had ample means of accommodating the young 
men, for he was extremely fond of young George Washington and his 



460 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

own kinsman, George William Fairfax, son of his cousin, William 
Fairfax, of Bel voir. At any rate, Daniel Morgan had no .connection 
with the traditional "Washington's hut," for the afterward great 
Revolutionary Thunder bt)lt was only a boy himself in 1748-49, and 
was far from owning any property for ten or fifteen years afterward. 
The fact is certain, however, that Daniel Morgan lived at the place 
indicated, and was very hospitable, if he was a man of unpolished 
manners. The dwelling was built at a time when neighbors lived 
long distances apart, and generally remained several days with each 
other when they visited. In those days of one hundred and twenty 
years or more ago hospitality was a foremost thought in the mind of 
the pioneer, and each tried to outdo the other as host, though always 
in a spirit of friendly rivaliy. Daniel Morgan, large-hearted as he 
was large-limbed, rough and rugged by nature and his early surround- 
ings, was no exception to this rule, as the rooms of his old mansion 
attest, for they even now have the appearance of old entertainers. The 
main building on the lower floor consists of two large rooms, divided 
by a wide hall crossed at right angles by a narrower one, which leads 
into an immense apartment with many windows, several doors and a 
huge, old-fashioned fire-place. This was the dining room in which 
many a hilarious company partook of the festivities of the old soldier's 
bounty. The dinners were generally succeeded by a night of dancing, 
or some other equally inspiring amusement, attended by the darky 
fiddlers that were always to be found on the plantations at any time 
"befo' de wah." The hall, parlor and dining-room are wainscoted to 
the height of three feet from the floor, and, except for sundry coats of 
paint, are just as they were a century ago. There is a mantel piece 
that is said to have been brought from England, a little unique, it is 
true, but nothing extraordinary. At the time of its being placed it 
was considered an elaborate piece of work, and the neighbors gath- 
ered in to see it. It is of pine wood and in excellent preservation. 
The view from the front porch is very fine, as it commands a stretch 
of country that is exceptionally noted for its scenery. About one 
hundred yards from the house is a magnificent willow tree, that has 
withstood the storms of, possibly, over two centuries, and under its 
branches the old hero of Cowpens has reclined on many a summer after- 
noon. The Blue Ridge in the distance lends a charm to this old home- 
stead and seems to keep watch and ward over it. Following is an old 
account of the famous hut spoken of above: 



CLARKE COUNTY. 461 

"It is about 12 feet square, and is divided into two rooms, one in 
the upper and the other in the lower story. The lower apartment was 
then, and is now (1849), used as a milk-room. A beautiful spring 
gushes up from the rocks by the house and flows in a clear, crystal 
stream under the building, answering admirably the purpose to which 
it is applied, in cooling this apartment. Many years since both the 
spring and the building Avere protected from the heat of the summer's 
sun by a dense copse of trees. The upper or attic room, which is about 
12 feet square, was occupied by Washington as a place of deposit for 
his surveying instruments, and as a lodging — how long, though, is 
not known. The room was lathed and plastered. A window was at 
one end, and a door — up to which led a rough flight of steps — at the 
other." 

Another famous character in the person of Rev. Charles Mynn 
Thruston, the " warrior-parson of Gloucester," as he has been admir- 
ingly called, resided for many years in Clarke County. He was born 
in Gloucester County in 1738, was a descendant of the old English 
cavaliers, his ancestors being among the first settlers of Virginia. 
Mr. Thruston was educated at William and Mary College. When 
twenty years of age he was a lieutenant of provincials, under Wash- 
ington, in the campaign that resulted in the capture of Fort Duqaesne. 
He afterward studied for the ministry, and was chosen rector of a 
parish in his native county. In 1769 he removed to Frederick County 
and settled on a plantation which he called Mount Zion, a beautiful 
seat not far from the Shenandoah River. He continued in the minis- 
try, preaching at the "Old Chapel" and at Winchester, and at St. 
George's Chapel, the picturesque ruins of which are now one of the 
landmarks near Charlestown. At the commeucement of hostilities, in 
1775, he abandoned his gown for the sword. He had been among 
the most prominent in repelling the attempt to introduce the Stamp 
Act in Virginia, and he now embarked in the common cause with an 
unconquerable zeal. He exerted himself to procure arms and ammu- 
nition, and addressed the people at public gatherings by the most 
spirit-stirring and eloquent harangues. Not content with this. Parson 
Thruston raised a volunteer company, composed of the elite of the 
young men of the county, and he being chosen captain, they marched 
to join Washington in New Jersey. He made a bold and vigorous at- 
tack on a strong Hessian outpost near Amboy, and in the action his 
arm was shattered by a musket-ball, he being carried, fainting with 



■462 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

loss of blood, from the field. He was afterward promoted to the rank 
of colonel. At the close of hostilities he did not resume his connec- 
tion Avith the church as pastor, but was always a devout attendant 
upon the service. He held various public positions, having been pre- 
siding officer of the bench of justices for Frederick County, and a 
member of the Legislature. He was highly respected for his many 
virtues, and even that erratic soldier, Gen. Charles Lee, who numbered 
but few men as his friends, remembers the parson -soldier in his will, 
and makes him one of his two administrators. An item in Lee's will 
reads: " I give and bequeath to Charles Minn Thruston fifty guineas 
in consideration of his good qualities and his friendship, and to Buck- 
ner Thruston, his son, I leave all my books, as I know he will make a 
good use of them." In 1809 he removed to the far South, and the 
battle of New Orleans was fought where the old Virginian fighting- 
parson was buried. The late venerable Judge Thruston, of Washing- 
ton, was a son of the Revolutionary hero. 

Settlements were made in Clarke at a very early day, in consequence 
of the fact that through that portion of the original Frederick County 
ran the highway known as the "Great Road to Belhaven " (Alexan- 
dria). Along this road leading to Winchester came a portion of Brad- 
dock's army, consisting of one of his regiments of English regulars, 
that had landed at Alexandria, headed by Braddock himself, accom- 
panied by the young Col. George Washington and his provincials. 
The other regiment of the unfortunate general passed up through 
Maryland and crossed near Shepherdstown, thence to some point on 
the Warm Spring Road, leading from Winchester, where the two 
forces joined. Benjamin Franklin and the governor of New York are 
both said to have met Braddock at Winchester. Along the road lead- 
ing from Alexandria through the village of Battletown to the import- 
ant frontier town just named was brought all the supplies from the sea- 
board, and wagons and pack horses were constantly coming and going. 
The " Old Wagoner," Daniel Morgan drove his teams along that old 
thoroughfare, as well as across to Pennsylvania, and along this same 
road were brought the Hessian prisoners captured by that same old 
wagoner at Saratoga and elsewhere. It is related by an old citizen of 
Clarke, the tradition being handed down from father to son, that when 
a party of Hessian prisoners were passing along the old mountain 
road they halted for rest near the humble home of that day of 
Thomas Ashby. The men-folk were all away in the Continental 



CLARKE COUNTY. ' 468 

army, and Mrs. Asliby and a couple of her children came out to see 
the rare sight of soldiers and prisoners in that region. In the party 
was a Maj. Greene, an Englishman, who was also a prisoner. He 
asked Mrs. Ashby for a drink of water, which she gladly gave, saying 
that she was pleased to furnish him Avith it under the circumstances; 
also, that she would like to furnish all the British army, if they would 
come along in that way. The Major, who was a gentleman, saw the 
point and laughed, and asked her if her husband was in the American 
army. " Oh, yes," said the old lady, " my husband and oldest son 
helped to capture Burgoyne, and," pointing to a little fellow ten or 
twelve years of age, " my other boy is going to help to take Cornwal- 
lis neist year." Could Mrs. Ashby have penetrated the misty veil of 
eighty-two years and witnessed the gallant achievements and glorious 
death of another Ashby, one of her descendants, her patriotic heart 
would have been full to overflowing. It is said that the English offi- 
cer, Maj. Greene, never entered the service again, after being released 
on exchange, that he wrote of the circumstance of meeting with the 
old lady and what she had said, to a London journal, and became a 
stanch friend of the American cause, saying that a people who were 
battling in the field whilst their mothers and wives were so patriotic 
at home, not only deserved success, but that it would be impossible t(» 
prevent them from attaining it. 

The southern part of Clarke was visited in 1774 by Lord Dun- 
more, who went on an expedition against the Indians at that time. He 
came through Frederick County and encamped near Greenway Court, 
the residence of Lord Fairfax. The soldiers dug a well, at least one 
is pointed out to this day at the spot where they halted, which is at- 
tributed to them. 

The Old Chapel, as it has always been termed, it possibly having 
had no other name, is one of the old landmarks of Clarke County. 
It is situated not far from Boyce, and is an interesting object to all 
visitors in this region. It should properly be called Cunningham's 
Chapel, as it is th^ successor of one that was known by that appellar- 
tion from the earliest settlement of the Valley, at least it is men- 
tioned in the old Frederick County records, not far from the organiza- 
tion of the first justices' court in 1743. Just when Cunningham's 
Chapel was built, can not now be definitely ascertained. In a list of 
roads gleaned by the author from the order books of the justices 
before 1750 the following roads are given in the course of the pro- 



464 mSTOBY OF THE LOWEB SHENAKDOJIH VALLEY. 

ceetlincjs of the monthly courts: "From Cunningham's Chapel to the 
river;" ■•Cunningham's to Borden's Spring;" "Richard Sturman's 
to Cunningham's Chapel;" "Brii^lge near Lindsev's to Cunningham's 
Chapel;'" " Cunningham's Chapel to Neil's Ford:" "Head of Spring 
at Stribling's to Cunningham's Chapel." The establishment of these 
roads indicate that the ancient chapel was built, possibly, before the 
orgranization of the countr of Frederick, as there was undoubtedly con- 
siderable population in its vicinity as early as 1740. The first struct- 
ure was built of logs, as were all churches for many years afterward, 
but it is thought that a rude stone building replaced this first one. In 
1772 an effort to build a larger one on the same site was made, but 
owing to the desire of many of the supporters of a new church build- 
ing to have it place<l at another locality, the project fell through and 
was not again reriyed till the reorganization of the yestry in 17S7. 
The land upon which the original chapel stood had come into the pos- 
session of CoL Xathaniel Burwell, and he gave two acres for the pur- 
pose of placing upon it a sul^tantial stone edifice, wliich was completed 
about 1790, and this is the present '• Old Chapel," so famous for its 
graveyard and antique surroundings. The building is constructed of 
native limestone, and is nearly square, with a high peaked roof and a 
chimney at each end, A padlock fastens the ancient door, and its 
great iron hinges creak as it is moved. The shutters are heavy, and 
upon opening them a small platform is disclose<l ujxjn which stands 
the reading desk, and back of it a sofa. A small robing room is also 
in the rear. An hectagonal pulpit stands on the left of the platform. 
The sides are wainscoted, and the walls and arched ceiling are white- 
washed. Above the wainscoting to the right of the pulpit is a tablet 
to the memory of Bishop Meade, who for many years was assistant 
rector and rector of the chapeL Over the entrance and extending 
half • ig the interior is a servants" gallery, where the drivers 

and a: - of the grand folk of the old times could hear the Word 

expounded and participate in the services. This gallery was reached 
by a separate door from the main entrance. Surrounding the chapel 
is the old graveyard, known for long years as the " Burwell grave- 
yard," from the fact that Nathaniel Burwell gave the ground for this 
purpose, and that there are more Burwells buried therein than any 
family. Hundreds of the leading citizens of their time who 

..- i in this locality lie entombed here, but the most of them are 

unmarked by any slab or stone. For over one hundred and fifty years 



wriUir, 'John F *' - '^'x^k/T, li** \mrif:tM^ ..-..■.. *.-, tK<- " ' * 'A- * eryfuxtr 
ttixt-Xy nmi\ Utt dvdith mrrSeft,, and i» kofcfd ojioo totum a« a 31^^:^ fe* 



CHAPTEK XXIIL 

LOJiO FAIRFAX AXD ORFEN'WAT COrET 
<)Kfois ov rtty, Faikfaz ^.v..v> > >...v. 

FaIKFAX— OKIOIJf or THK >'aMK— t AKK t A-C— AFAt/K— THJt 

FaIB L«ABer^— I'lir/TB'TAST A?ff> f^-^.<.vr*T- .. -THE FliSFT 

J»Bi> Fairfax— A Familt or - The G; :..r A%—*'.iJf%- 

itell'i* Famoi;* isK%rMK\.r—\ Vsnr.. > v.- .Vell a* -r-/.. ' vr Fai^- 

FAX— HeK PH'CK— Bl/CKiafOMAJl'* TKIBCTE— THE C' <: ALLI- 

AXCE— Of.'B I.' " 

EVTAyifiLKh IS. . - 
TKA<r.T— A liOMA> . 
i'tVJfUfjV. WlI,LlAM . 

YxM^i i'ATKO.v or 

COt'BT— I>EATH or . _ ... - 

rAX SCOCEISgOBS- 

Tf £0>IAS- I»rd Fairfcai- Baron «(rf Cameron, haring be»i so doselr 
identified with that portion ol old Frederick Cotmtj, now ecnm- 
priced within the bounds of Clarke: he haring remfled here from 
1741^ till the riav of his death in 17SL a perio^l of thirty-two rears 
^>f hi« mo»t raried and, in one respect, romantic life; haring been the 
ori^nal proprietor of all the beaotifnl rallej lands fncMn the Potomae 
t^i the upper line of Shenandoah eonntr, and fnmi the Bine Bidge 
westward ^>r manj ijaile$<. and haring boilt himself a hcnae unid the 
then wilderness and become in, all essoitials one ol tibe peofJe br 
whom he was snrroonded, it seems entirely in ^aee in this woHk to 
gire an extended and acenrate aeeoont of his aneestrr, the origin of 
the familj, and the ralorons deeds of some who bore tiie name of 
Fairfax- 
Some sixty years ago. when an old broken chest, a^nrently filled 
with Dutch tfles, was taken by a poor shoemaker from s<j«ne rubbish 



466 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

carted off in the course of repairs done at Leeds Castle, the shoe- 
maker found under the tiles a number of parchments and letters, and 
not recognizing their value, permitted some of the precious documents 
to be cut into measuring strips, and many of the letters were given to 
the Maidstone milliners as winders for their thread. One of these 
coming under the observation of a student of history, the papers, or 
what remained of them, were hastily reclaimed, and from them were 
compiled several volumes, published under the title of the " Fairfax 
Correspondence," which, apart from their family interest, form a val- 
uable compendium of the Civil wars, in which the Fairfaxes played 
so important a part, especially a Thomas Fairfax. History has re- 
corded the character and deeds of this great champion of Anglo-Saxon 
freedom, and has handed down also the fame of his loyal wife, Avhom 
Carlyle called " a Vere of fighting Veres." The truth is, that most of 
the Fairfax men are best seen through the mists of the smoke of bat- 
tle, and to follow up the long line from which our Fairfax sprung, 
one has to pass in review the list of brave and stately soldiers, and 
fair and virtuous women of over six hundred years. Extreme gentle- 
ness of demeanor, reticence of speech, profound reverence for God, 
combined with an utter recklessness of personal safety where honor 
was concerned, have ever been the distinguishing characteristics of 
the race. Fighters arose among them, strong, sinewy and dauntless, 
to swell the ranks of all heroic armies where Englishmen were to be 
found, from the days of the Crusaders to the wars of the Reformation. 
Italy knew them many centuries ago, when the gallant knight, Sir 
Nicholas Fairfax, of the Brotherhood of St. John, hewing a pathway 
through the encompassing Turks, led his hardy band of knights into 
the city of Rhodes, and carried aid and comfort to the besieged. To 
a Fairfax, too, Italy owes the best translation into English of the 
martial stanzas of her Tasso. Edward Fairfax, scholar and poet, 
founded, with Spenser, the modern school of English rhythmical 
verse; and the lessons taught by him from history and romance exer- 
cised an influence, stirring as a bugle-blast, over the early life of his 
famous nephew, the third Lord Fairfax, who was destined to develop 
into the great general, known familiarly at the time as " Fighting Tom 
Fairfax." 

The name Fairfax is of Saxon origin, and is said to have been 
derived from an ancestor who had fair hair, liut whether fair fax 
meant light hair or not in the Saxon language is not essentially 



CLARKE COUNTY. 467 

important, A still more ancient origin of this noted family takes 
them back to the first king of Norway — the first jarl, or " kinglet," as 
Carlyle calls them — who conquered all the rest of the jarls and made 
himself supreme in that Northland. This far-away progenitor was 
Harald Haarfagr, or Harald, the Fairhaired. The name, or term, 
Haarfagr, by that mysterious process of change, as imperceptible as it 
is unaccountable, in time became Fagrhaar, Farhar, and then Fairfax 
— the last spelling being used to better accord with a punning motto 
on the family coat-of-arms: '■'Fare Fac'''' ("say it, do it"). That it 
is an ancient Saxon family, however, is certain, as they have long 
been known in the Yorkshire chronicles. In 1204- Richard Fairfax 
owned the manor of Askham, and one of his descendants was made 
Lord Fairfax, Viscount Emly. From Richard came also Sir Guy, one 
of the judges of the Court of King's Bench in 1478, who built for 
himself a castle upon Steeton Manor, thenceforward for long years the 
principal seat of the family. In the annals of that time is found all 
sorts of odd entries, such as the will of one Rev. John Fairfax, 
L.L. D., who leaves sixty oxen and twenty sheep for his funeral din- 
ner, quite enough, seemingly, to satisfy the surviving sorrowing rela- 
tives at any post mortem feast, which m ast have taken the character 
of our modern barbecue, if the instructions of the generous deceased 
were followed strictly. In the reign of Henry VIII,, who set a pretty 
wild example of hasty marriages, a Fairfax romance occurs, one of 
those events upon which the novelist founds his thrilling tales of 
chivalry, A graphic writer of several years agone describes this epi- 
sode thus: "In the history of this family a pretty love story falls like 
a sun-burst upon the dusty canvas of the past. To Sir Guy had suc- 
ceeded Sir William, recorder of York and judge of common pleas in 
1509. His son was a dashing young knight — another Sir William — 
loving and beloved by fair Isabel Thwaites, a famous Yorkshire heiress, 
placed for safe keeping under the care of Anna Langton, abbess of 
the Cistercian Nunnery on the River Wharfe, Discovering the 
romance that, like the shoot of an ivy, had penetrated her convent 
walls, the abbess, who had designs of her own upon the fortune of her 
charge, warily opposed Sir William's suit by denying him an oppor- 
tunity to press it. He found that even an appeal to a higher tribunal 
was in vain; and so, adapting Queen Catherine's motto: 'Truth loves 
open dealing,' he stormed the nunnery, and captured and carried off 
in triumph to Bolton Percy Church the lovely Isabel, who then and 



468 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

there became his wife. The Ainsty region rang with rejoicings at 
this 'bold stroke for a wife.' Lady Isabel lived for many happy 
years with her husband in great beauty and renown." 

From that marriage of Steeton and Nun-Appleton have descended 
all the statesmen, scholars and Avarriors who have added fame to the 
house of Fairfax. Years after the storming of the nunnery where the 
faithful Isabel had been immured by the heartless abbess, at the time 
of the Reformation, that property was granted to the Fairfaxes, and it 
is a fine piece of poetic justice that her sons, two sturdy soldiers, 
Thomas and Guy, compelled the same cruel abbess, the persecutor of 
tlieir mother's youth, to surrender the building, which they proceded 
to demolish, forthwith. Sir William, the father of the two young 
knights, does not appear to have been quite tolerant of the escapades 
of his sons, although they were only following in the footsteps of their 
sire. One of the young soldiers who helped destroy the nunnery, 
Thomas, was a bold and daring fellow, in whose veins the knightly 
blood of the father ran strong. He served in Italy and took part in 
the sacking of Rome by the Emperor's troops, but Sir William avenged 
the pontiff by disinheriting the offending son and heir, and so left 
Steeton, and all else he could, to Gabriel a younger brother, from 
whom descend the Steeton Fairfaxes who to-day hold the ancient seat. 
The gallant knight, thus shorn by his father, was not so badly off, 
after all, however, for from his mother he received Denton, and he 
ultimately acquired other properties, which made him a man of wealth 
and consequence. He it was, who, cherishing the memory of a Span- 
ish comrade in the campaigns in Italy, called one of his sons Ferdin- 
ando, thus introducing that sonorous name, since borne by one or more 
in every generation — an echo of the far-aAvay wild days when those 
young adventurers stormed the walls of Rome together, in 1527. 
"-The last one who bore the Spanish name who lived in Virginia, at 
least west of the Blue Ridge, was Ferdinando Fairfax, one of the first 
justices of Jefferson County in 1801. He was the third son of Bryan 
Fairfax, and resided at Shannon Hill, which property had come to him 
from George William Fairfax, tHe companion in youth of George 
Washington, both of whom Lord Fairfax had employed to survey his 
lands in the western portion of the Northern Neck. ' But this is an- 
ticipating; so, a return to the Sir William, father of the knights who 
destroyed the nunnery is necessary: Sir William had also a son, 
Charles, who served in the Low Countries under Sir Francis Vere, was 



CLAKKE COUNTY. 469 

kniofhted in 1600 and killed at the battle of Ostend. Another son of 
his was Edward, the scholar and translator of " Jerusalem Delivered." 
And here comes in a qneer chapter of family legends, revealing a 
somewhat startling feature of the times. Edward Fairfax, in addition 
to his other literary labors, wrote a ' Discourse on Demonology,' and 
the fact shows how, even in a comparatively enlightened community, 
superstition may prevail in the highest circles. Edward had occasion 
to study the subject under his own roof. An old writer says of thi& 
witch-episode: "It gives one a creeping sensation to read of hi& 
daughter, Helen Fairfax, twenty-one years old, fair and blooming, 
who led her father a life by pretending to be bewitched in 1621, but 
the old women she accused were acquitted at York Assizes. It is a re- 
lief to ascertain that this enterprising young beauty was in 1636 mar- 
ried to one Christopher Yates. Poor Christopher! But that was not 
the end of it, for the author of the " Discourse on Demonology " had 
another daughter, Elizabeth, baptized at Fewston, 1606. In 1621 
she was of pleasant aspect, quick wit, and active spirit. She also pre- 
tended to be bewitched, as an excuse for not learning her lessons t 
And then we come to the story, told in grewsome earnest, of still an- 
other, Anne, who lived only a few months, said to have been frightened 
to death by a witch who sucked her blood. Fancy such weird famil- 
iars in the home circle of a country gentleman of an estate otherwise 
comfortable enough." 

But we now arrive at the period when the lords Fairfax commence: 
Sir Thomas, of Denton, elder brother of the witch-ridden poet, grand- 
son of Sir William and the beautiful Isabel Thwaites, now steps to the 
front. He is one of the most picturesque figures upon the family 
pedestals, " clad in Elizabethan armor, and with a ruff quilled like the 
petals of a dahlia underneath his square beard." His youth was spent 
in travel, study, arms and diplomacy. He refused one title offered 
him by King James, to whom he had been sent by Queen Elizabeth 
to arrange a negotiation, but afterward got another from Charles I., in 
1725, with the dignity of " Lord Fairfax, Baron of Cameron," in the 
Scottish peerage. He had broad acres, a long purse, a large family, 
a hot temper, and was a true Englishman. He also was a writer and 
produced several books, as well as his bewitched brother, notably one 
on horses and horsemanship. He had nine sons, soldiers, lawyers, 
divines and country justices. The old lord, as well he might, was full 
of honest pride in his sons. Ferdinando, a " country justice," as Sir 



470 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Thomas called him, became an active member of Parliament and the 
first general for the Commons in the North; he succeeded to his 
father's estates and was second Lord Fairfax. Charles, a lawyer, at- 
tained distinction at the bar and was a colonel in the civil wars. 
William and John fell together, splendidly battling for the elector- 
palatine in the garrison of Frankenthal, shortly after the proud old 
veteran. Sir Thomas, had visited his brave boys in their camp at Rot- 
terdam on the eve of the campaign. An old chronicler says of this 
visit of the first Lord Fairfax: " He was received there with great 
honor by his old companion in arms, Sir Horace Vere, the commander, 
but the old soldier chose to share the bed of straw with his two gal- 
lant young sons, one of whom, in a letter home, declared that camp- 
life made their Avhite-haired father look forty years younger." Two 
more of the sons of grand old Sir Thomas fell before the foe: in 1621 
Peregrine was slain at the siege of Montauban,in France, and Thomas 
was killed in Turkey. Truly, those are ancestors upon whom the 
mind can revert with pride, and such was the stock whence spri^ng oitr 
Lord Fairfax of Green way Court, in direct line. 

But there was a soldier maturing in the Fairfax family who was 
destined to overshadow the well-earned fame of all his kinsmen that 
liad gone before him, and whose prowess in arms would ring down the 
corridors of time. The hopes of his warlike grandsire were fixed on 
him, and he would frequently say to the stripling: " Tom, Tom, mind 
thou the battle! Thy father is a good man, but a mere coward at 
fighting. All the good I expect is from thee." The old lord lived 
long enough to see two generations of his blood take the field side by 
side in the struggle of the commons against the usurpations of the 
crown, and when he became too infirm to visit his " fighting boys " in 
the front of the fray, he would sit in his chair eager for the news, 
and ever ready to supply son and grandson with money, and horses 
from his stables. Had Sir Thomas lived a few years longer, his ex- 
actions as a soldier from his " fiery young Tom " would have been 
fully satisfied; as it was, however, before he died, at the ripe age of 
eighty years, he had the satisfaction of seeing this beloved grandson 
settled with a wife worthy of him in every respect. The youug man 
had been sent to Lord Vere's headquarters in the Low Countries to get 
instruction in the art of arms, fencing, dancing, etc., under the eye of 
the knightly old soldier, and he remained there and in France several 
years, but at last got tired of inactivity and such warfare, half-hearted 



CLARKE COUNTY. 471 

as it was, and came back to England, complaining of his grandfather 
in a letter that he could not acquire much of that which he most de- 
sired in the profession of arms, where he was, and begged permission 
to join the standard of Gustavus Adolphus in the campaign about to 
open against Wallenstein, in Bohemia, which was not granted; so he 
became very much depressed, but at this interesting juncture he vis- 
ited Lady Vere and her daughters, who sympathized Avith him very 
much, to such extent, in fact, that he fell violently in love with one of 
the high-spirited Vere de Veres, and she being of the same mind, the 
match was thought by the old folks to be highly eligible, and tliey 
were permitted to be married. 

In his thirty-fourth year this famous Fairfax, already the most 
renowned general of the Parliament, was given the command of all 
their armies, and within two years thereafter he had driven the king 
into Scotland, destroyed every garrison and dispersed every royal 
troop that had borne the standard of Charles I. With his great influ- 
ence over the army, the prestige of an old and honored name, and the 
" kingly qualities " he possessed, it is thought that Thomas Fairfax 
would have placed himself upon the throne made vacant by the flight 
of Charles, but he cared not for personal aggrandizement, and when 
matters had assumed such shape as to forecast the execution of the 
unhappy monarch, he warmly opposed it, and washed his hands clear 
of even the commission that met to take into consideration the sum- 
moning of the king " to answer, etc." The scene at the session in West- 
minster Hall, as described by Clarendon, is characteristic of the time. 
Lady Fairfax, the daughter of Lord Vere, being present with a num- 
ber of other ladies, when her husband's name was called first on the 
list of commissioners, cried out, " Fairfax hath more wit than to be 
here!" And again, when the king was required to answer to the 
charges " in the name of all good people of England," Lady Fairfax 
rose and cried out loudly, " It is a lie — not an hundredth part of them! 
Oliver Cromwell is a traitor!" The story may have some foundation 
in fact, but it is extremely doubtful that Cromwell and his followers 
permitted such sentiments to go unpunished, even from a woman. This 
third Lord Fairfax had no inclination to be a statesman. He aspired 
simply to be a soldier, and refused to share in any of the intrigues 
occasioned by the disorders of the time, and when the work for which 
he had been striving was accomplished, he withdrew from the public 
gaze and devoted himself to study and meditation ; but when the time 



472 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

arrived which he had looked forward to with great interest, for the 
restoration of Cliarles II., he was as active as ever. Historians have 
robbed Thomas Fairfax of much that was due him, in their efforts to 
make brighter the fame of Cromwell, but some have accorded him 
justice. An able writer has said in this connection: "Fairfax ex- 
perienced what we still observe — that, in times of long-continued com- 
motion, men of moderate opinions, whatever their individual merits 
or achievements, are forgotten in presence of the audacious and am- 
bitious radical who has the sagacity to go farthest in the direction 
taken by the party of resolution and action." For many years pre- 
vious to his death, in 1671, Gen. Fairfax was confined to his apart- 
ments and an easy chair, which he woiild have rolled about. Disease 
and several wounds received in battle that would not succumb to the 
little knowledge possessed at that day by the surgeons, made him a 
great sufPerer, yet he bore them like an old Roman, impressing all 
who saw him with the genuine and innate greatness of the man. His 
son-in-law, the Duke of Buckingham, after paying high tribute to his 
worth and honesty, says of him in the epitaph he wrote: 

" He might have been a king, 
But that he understood 
How much it is a meaner thing 
To be unjustly great, than honorably good." 

The famous old fighter, like many another great man, had but one 
child to survive him. This was " sweet Mary Fairfax," or Little Moll, 
as her father called her. She gave her hand to the brilliant but dis- 
solute George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, wealthy, titled and in- 
fluential; a splendid match, as matches go, in high society, but he 
led the gentle Mary into much courtly splendor, and amid many in- 
trigues, herself alone preserving her hereditary purity and goodness. 
She lived an example of dignified matronhood to the age of sixty-six 
and died without issue, her husband having preceded her to the grave 
by many years. At the death of the great Lord Fairfax, he having 
no surviving son, the title went to his cousin, Henry of Bolton Percy. 
This fourth Lord Fairfax figured prominently in Parliament and was 
succeeded by his son, Thomas, the fifth lord from the Thomas of 
Denton, whom Charles I. had honored by the title. This fifth Lord 
Thomas Fairfax, was handsome, debonair and extravagant. He was 
a colonel in "the Kings own," and for some years member of Parlia- 
ment from York. He was zealous in placing William III. on the 





^ 1 



c. /- -^^ 



CLARKE COUNTY. 475 

throne, and was known to be conservative in his ideas. From his 
station as the head of an ancient and honorable house, it may be sure 
that this brilliant and handsome young man could " pick his partner," 
and it was, therefore, no surprise when the announcement was made 
that he and the accomplished heiress of the house of Colepepper were 
about to wed. But this alliance was the beginning of the disintegra- 
tion of the Fairfax fortunes. The fair Catherine Colepepper inherited 
not only Leeds Castle, but estates in Kent and elsewhere, as well as 
proprietary rights in the Northern Neck of Virginia, the extent of 
which has been stated in other portions of this work. But Lord Fair- 
fax in the course of years became involved in his business affairs, and 
when he died, in 1710, they were in this condition, his family consist- 
ing of Thomas, Henry, Robert and four daughters. The mother of 
Thomas, now the sixth Lord Fairfax, became seriously embarrassed 
thi-ough extravagance, which influenced her to commit a gross act of 
injustice toward her son. Lady Fairfax finding her Kentish estates 
involved, sold Denton and her eldest son's Yorkshire inheritance, 
compelling him to acquiesce in the sale through a threat from Lady 
Colepepper, his grandmother, of deprivation of entail in the Virginia 
(Northern Neck) estates. The disposal of the properties named was 
so mismanaged, that little more than the value of the timber on those 
fine estates was realized. The young man, om^ Lord Fairfax, was 
thus crippled in the outset of his life, not only crippled pecuniarily, 
but the fact of the crippling deprived him of his affianced, as will be 
shown further along. The wrong perpetrated upon him by his mother 
and grandmother, to save their Avaning fortunes, Thomas never for- 
gave, and it influenced him largely in seeking Virginia and burying 
in the then wilderness his life from his kindred and native land. 

The young Lord Fairfax, notwithstanding the loss of his heredit- 
ary estates, was not an impecunious hanger-on by any means. He 
had all things at his disposal that are calculated to make a young 
man happy and popular. After a brilliant career at Oxford, he made 
his dehid into London society. He had talent, which gave him stand- 
ing among such literary lights as Addison, Steele and Lord Boling- 
broke, and several contributions to that stateliest of all stately publi- 
cations, the Spectator, were known to be from " My Lord's " pen. 
He was honored with a commission in " The Blues," one of the fancy 
regiments of the time, and had many military friends ; and in addition 
to all his other blessings was, as an old chronicler puts it, "a vastly 

29 



476 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

pretty fellow," being over six feet in height, straight as an arrow, of 
fine address, and possessing the hereditary Fairfax distingue appear- 
ance. His ancient name, his position and a fortune which, at the 
time he was at the apex of his fashionable career, was supposed to be 
illimitable, brought around him hordes of flatterers; who basked in 
his golden bounty. With such a combination of Fortune's smiles 
concentrated on a young man, is it any wonder that he soon became 
entangled in the meshes so often and skillfvilly thrown by match- 
making mammas? In this case, however, it was not a catch simply of 
the lady who charmed him. She had secured a lover, true and de- 
voted; she had aroused in her admirer a feeling that lasted unto 
death, a love that could compromise with nothing short of its first 
object. To lose that first love was to shut forever from his heart any 
other. And, alas! for poor Fairfax, he whom we of Virginia only 
know as the stern old Lord of Green way Court, the proprietor of al- 
most countless acres of this beautiful Valley land, the patron of that 
illustrious man who gave us freedom and an independent country; 
this splendid young Fairfax, with a line of soldier-lords stretching 
backward five hundred years, was jilted by the faithless fair one upon 
whom he had lavished all the affection of his honorable nature; the 
engagement peremptorily broken, after all arrangements had been 
made, carriages and jewels and trousseaux ordered, contracts signed 
and guests invited — because the fact had come to the knowledge of 
the lady that her affianced had lost a portion of his domains! Who 
the false and calculating one was, is not now known, at least to the 
world, for Lord Fairfax carefully and with the consideration worthy 
of an honorable gentleman, effaced the signature of the lady from the 
marriage contract, only leaving his own, apparently to attest the loy- 
alty of his devotion. And there that signature is to this day. Is this 
a fancy sketch, a figment of the writer's imagination? Not by any 
means. Some years ago, in the garret of an old, deserted and dilapi- 
dated building in Virginia was found a musty and mildewed parch- 
ment, with the writing almost faded beyond recognition, yet discern- 
able to careful eyes. This, now in the possession of one of the Fairfaxes 
of this State, is the document, the non-fulfillment of the conditions of 
which drove Thomas Lord Fairfax to the wilds of the Old Dominion. 
This episode ended his contact with the fashionable world of England, 
and nothing more is heard of him there. He resolved to investigate 
his Virginian estates and made a trip to them, returning after a short 



CLAEKE COUNTY. 477 

while to his old home, in order to so arrange his affairs that he could 
forever turn his back upon the land so dear to him, yet so full of bit- 
ter memories. He relinquished his rights in the Castle of Leeds to 
his brother, Robert, who afterward became the seventh Lord Fairfax, 
and he dying childless, it passed to Rev. Denny Martin, whose father, 
Denny Martin, had married Frances Fairfax, one of the four sisters 
of Lord Thomas, mentioned above. This nephew, in consideration of 
adding to his name that of Fairfax, acquired the fine estate of Leeds 
and elsewhere, and his kinsmen still hold the property, but the be- 
quest did not carry with it the lordly title, for after Robert, the sev- 
enth lord, the Rev. Bryan Fairfax attained to the distinction of the 
eighth Lord Fairfax. 

Before entering upon the life of the great proprietor of the North- 
ern Neck, who resided for over thirty years in the midst of what is 
now Clarke County, a few words anterior to his arrival will not be out 
of place. 

William Fairfax, son of Henry, the brother of the father of Lord 
Fairfax, came to Virginia some years before the arrival of his cousin 
Thomas. He first settled \n Westmoreland County, near the Wash- 
ingtons, and afterward removed to a fine tract of land not far from 
Mount Vernon, where he built a grand mansion which he called Bel- 
voir. He was a scholar, a soldier, a sailor and a statesman. He had 
led a bold and adventurous life in Spain, fighting for Queen Anne, 
and was subsequently in the royal navy where he served in an expedi- 
tion against the island of Providence, then held by pirates. By two 
marriages he had five children: George William, Thomas, William, 
Bryan and Hinnah, George William, the youthful compauii.n of 
Washington in his surveys, married a Miss Sarah Cary and returned 
to England before the Revolution ; Thomas and William, true to the 
Fairfax stock, gave their lives to the public cause — one being killed 
in the army and the other in the navy of England; Hannah married 
Warner Washington, and Bryan became an Episcopalian minister, 
the same upon whom fell the dignity of Lord Fairfax, eighth, after 
the short possession of the title by Robert Fairfax. Mr. William 
Fairfax, of Belvoir, possessed of wealth, high birth and admirable 
breeding, and holding a distinguished public position (that of royal 
collector of customs, and president of the colonial council), led the 
way in matters social and hospitable. To the mansion, then, of this 
gentleman, came all the gay and wealthy society of the tide-water re- 



478 HISTOEY OF THE LOWEK SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

gion of Virginia. The elegance and comfort of Belvoir exceeded any- 
thing of the kind in the colony, and to its welcome gates came the 
Carters, Nelsons, Oarys, Lees, Berkeleys, Randolphs, Pages, Corbins, 
Nicholases, Tayloes, and others of the gentry of that stately time 
when the ladies made " curtsies " and the gentlemen placed their left 
hands against the small of their backs, removed their chapeaus with 
their right, and solemnly placed their heels together with mathemat- 
ical precision, as they bowed to them in return. Into the glamour of 
all this refinement and wealth came one day a comparatively raw youth 
from across the river at Mount Vernon. He was but fifteen years old 
and named George Washington. He came to return the visit of a 
youth of the same age, George William, son of the proprietor of Bel- 
voir. Also, in the meantime, had arrived " Thomas, Lord Fairfax, 
Baron of Cameron, in that part of England called Scotland," as the 
old records put it, a tall and handsome gentleman of fifty-seven years, 
active as a man of forty, and destined to live over thirty years there- 
after. To the young George Washington the old lord seemed to take 
instant fancy, a fancy that grew into admiration, and finally the high- 
est respect, and a respect that lasted throughout all the vicissitudes of 
a revolution for which the elder had no sympathy, but for its leader 
entire hope and confidence in his ultimate success. Royalist as he 
was, born and bred to the belief in the divine right of kings, holding 
his title and his estates by acts of the rulers of the very country which 
was endeavoring to maintain its supremacy over the revolting colonies, 
yet it was believed by many that he would have preferred to see Eng- 
land worsted in half a dozen such struggles, rather than to have wit- 
nessed the downfall of the great general who had been his protege in 
youth, a friend in his declining years, and who always accorded to the 
self-exiled lord the deference due to his age and position. 

Having been favorably impressed with young Washington, not yet 
sixteen years of age. Lord Fairfax to the day of his death never 
wavered in his friendship for him ; nor were good counsel and finan- 
cial aid lacking when required. Finding that his young cousin, 
George William, was full of energy and enterprise, as well as George 
Washington, he proposed to them to go upon an expedition to his 
lands west of the Blue Ridge for the purpose of exploring, surveying, 
and making maps of them. They accepted, and a portion of their 
work is embodied in a preceding chapter of this volume. Old docu- 
ments and field-notes are full of evidence that this expedition was a 



CLARKE COUNTY. 479 

source of keen delight to both of the Georges, whose firm friendship 
was then cemented for life. Fairfax well paid them, as he gave them 
each about ^20 in value per day. A large portion of the land of 
Clarke County was surveyed by these two young men, and Lord Fair- 
fax had laid off an extensive plantation for his own use, and named it 
Greenway Court. Situated on a sloping hillside stood a long low 
building constructed of the native limestone. Irving describes the 
original house as " a long stone building, one story in height, with 
dormer' windows, with two wooden belfries, chimneys studded with 
swallow and martin coops, and a roof sloping down, in the old Vir- 
ginia fashion, into low projecting eaves that formed a verandah the 
whole length of the house. It was probably the house originally 
occupied by his steward or land agent, but now devoted to hospitable 
purposes and the reception of guests. As to his lordship, it was one 
of his many eccentricities that he never slept in the main edifice, but 
lodged apart in a wooden house not much above twelve feet square." 
Not a nail is said to have been used in this house in its construction, 
except in placing the shingles on the roof. The four corner posts 
were hewed square, and in two sides of each ran a groove longitudi- 
nally. The logs for the walls were also square, and at each end so 
mortised that they fitted into the grooves, forming a kind of dovetail- 
ing, and making the house as firm as a stone wall. This mode of con- 
struction, used frequently at the period when the above structure was 
erected, has been the means of preserving some of the earliest build- 
ings in the valley ; notably, one previously mentioned as still standing 
at Shepherdstown, believed to be, from all the circumstances attending 
its origin, one of the first, if not the oldest cabin west of the Blue 
Eido^e still standi?^. ■ . 

Here in tlixo then comparative wilderness, settled down the former 
gay and luxurious Fairfax, but it must not be supposed that he lived 
the life of a recluse. He did not shut himself up and brood over his 
bitter memories. He was a man of affairs. When relieved from 
business attending the many sales, transfers and leases of his immense 
estate, he would hunt in company with his neighbors. He took his 
hounds from one section of the country to another, wherever his 
fancy or better sport led him. He entertained, liberally, every gen- 
tleman of good character, whether rich or poor, and was generous 
almost to a fault. His own wants were few, living plainly and sub- 
stantially. Dr. Buruaby, one of the earliest of English tourists, vis- 



480 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

ited Lord Fairfax at Greenway Court in 1760, and in an appendix to 
his travels, published after his lordship's death, the following is to be 
found : 

"Here Lord Fairfax built a small neat house, which he called 
Greenway Court, and laid out one of the most beautiful farms, con- 
sisting of arable and grazing lands, that had ever been seen in that 
quarter of the globe. He there lived for the remainder of his life in 
the style of a gentleman farmer, or, I should have said, of an English 
country gentleman. His dress corresponded with his mode of life, 
and, notwithstanding he had every year new suits of clothes of the 
most fashionable and expensive kind sent out to him from England, 
which he never put on, was plain in the extreme. His manners were 
humble, modest and unaffected; not tinctured in the smallest degree 
with arrogance, pride or self-conceit. The produce of his farms, after 
the deduction of what was necessary for the consumption of his 
own family, was given away to the poor planters and settlers in his 
neighborhood. To these he frequently advanced money to enable 
them to go on with their improvements, to clear away the woods and 
cultivate the ground. He was a friend and father to all who held and 
lived under him. Lord Fairfax had been brought up in revolutionary 
principles, and had early imbibed high notions of liberty, and of the 
excellence of the British constitution. So unexceptionable and disin- 
terested was his behavior, both public and private, and so generally 
was he beloved and respected, that during the late contest between 
Great Britain and America, he never met with the least insult or moles- 
tation from either party. His early disappointment in love is thought 
to have excited in him a general dislike for the sex, in whose company, 
unless he was particularly acquainted with the parties, it is said he 
was reserved, and under evident restraint and embarrassment. But I 
was present when, upon a visit to Lieutenant-Governor Fauquier, who 
had arrived from England, he was introduced to his lady, and nothing 
of the kind appeared to justify the observation," 

Thus living, the old lord, now in the ninetieth year of his age? 
having been born in 1691, was watching the course of the Revolution, 
in which his friend Washington was conducting to so triumphant a 
close, when on a certain day the news was brought to him that Coru- 
wallis had surrendered. It was too much for him, and he took to his 
bed, from which he never arose, save when he was carried to the old 
churchyard in Winchester, and from thence to his last abiding place 



CLARKE COUNTY. 481 

beneath the chancel of the new Episcopal Church of the same town. 
During his illness, Washington sent him gentle letters of sympathy, but 
his days were now soon to end, and he went gracefully to the presence 
of Him who knew best how to weigh his faults with his virtues. 

At the death of his lordship, his nephew, Thomas Bryan Martin, j 
who had for many years shared the loneliness of the self-exiled noble- 
man, sent messages to Bryan Fairfax at Tolston, and to Messrs. Jones / 
and Hoge, who were two of his executors. Bryan Fairfax, after the 
death of Eobert Fairfax, in England, as has been stated, became pos- 
sessor of the title of Lord Fairfax. He was the last of the "tory 
Fairfaxes," as they were called, and when he died his sons refused to 
accept the honor, though it was one of if not the most famous and 
honorable in the English peerage. The facts in regard to the final 
disposition of the Fairfax estates have been recited elsewhere in this 
work. 



CHAPTEK XXIV. 
BEERYVILLE, OR BATTLE-TOWN. 

Early Nucleus of Battle-Town— The Great Road to Alexandria— 
Braddock's Road Once More— Saratoga— Some of Morgan's Men- 
John Carr's School— A Versatile Pedagogue— Settlers from" Over 
THE Ridge" — Noted Advertisers — More About Gabriel Jones- 
Negro Harry Wanted— An Ad. Worth Preserving— Establishment 
OF Berryville— Enlarged — The Trustee Form— Incorporation- 
Officers— The Churches— Grace Episcopal— Baptist— Presbyter- 
ian— Methodist Churches— Colored Churches— Green Hill Cem- 
etery—Educational—Early Establishment of Schools, Public and 
Private — Clarke Courier — Societies — Officers — Manufactures, 
Etc.— Courts— County Boards— Lawyers— Millwood, White Post 
and Boyce. 

IT is altogether probable that there was a small settlement on the 
spot where now stands the pleasant county seat of Clarke, at an 
extremely early day, possibly, as far back as 1750 to 1760. This lo- 
cation was at the crossing of what was known as the " great road from 
Winchester to Alexandria " and several other roads running across 
that colonial thoroughfare. There was here, undoubtedly, a house of 
entertainment, or ordinary, as they were termed; perhaps a store and 



482 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

a blacksmith shop, for the place was known as Battletown before the 
Revolution. It was called by the term " Battle-Town," in consequence 
of the number of fisticuffs, free fights and rows in general which oc- 
curred there, and in which Daniel Morgan, beyond all doubt, was a 
principal and active participant. This is a matter of record in the 
justices' order books of Frederick County from about .1757 till 1765. 
Numbers of cases of "assault and battery," in which Daniel is " de- 
fendant," appear during that period, but in only one instance is he 
"plaintiff" in these cases, this case being against three persons 
named Davis, evidently brothers, or father and sons. They could not, 
probably, successfully battle with the stalwart old wagoner single 
handed, so they attacked him in force, and the odds being so much 
against him, he appealed to the law. He may have licked each one 
of them separately, and they revenged themselves by joining against 
him. Now, it was during the occurrence of these fights that the 
name of Battle-Town came to be used in connection with the settlement, 
which places the village about ten years or more before the great Rev- 
olutionary struggle began. At the close of the war, or about 1781-82, 
Gen. Morgan, with the aid of the Hessian prisoners, built " Saratoga," 
a very substantial building, now near Boyce on the Shenandoah Val- 
ley Railroad. As early as 1755 there may have been a nucleus at the 
spot indicated, as that portion of Braddock's force which came from 
Alexandria (then called Bellhaven), across the mountain by the road 
from that town to Winchester, encamped not far from the present 
site of Berry ville. There is no certain record of a village, however, 
earlier than a year or two prior to 1775, when Daniel Morgan, then a 
militia captain, raised his famous company of riflemen and started off 
on a bee-line for Boston to join Washington. Winchester at that 
period was the most important town west of the Blue Ridge Mountains 
in Virginia, and it was from that point he marched, but many persons 
from his own locality, Battletown, joined his company. There were 
two Aslibys, two Greenways, a Calmes, and a number of others from 
what is now Clarke County. After the great struggle for liberty and 
independence, when people felt secure in their property, there was a 
general improvement in values, and much was done in all directions 
for the development of the resources of the country. Business enter- 
prises were inaugurated, churches were erected and schools started. 
In a file of newspapers published in Winchester during 1787 and 
onward for many years, the writer found a number of nientions of 



CLARKE COUNTY. 483 

Battletown, in connection with the sale of property, running off of 
negroes, etc. Education was receiving clue attention, there being two 
high-grade classical schools in operation in Winchester at that time, 
and two at Battletown, one within the village itself, and the other at 
Trap-Hill. The following unique advertisement which appeared in 
the Winchester Gazetie of February 8, 1788, is worthy of a place in 
the history of Clarke, and it is given entire : , 

"THE Subscriber purposes opening School, on Monday the 18th 
instant, at Trap-Hill near Battletown, (which is known to be a health- 
ful and pleasant situation, besides boarding may be had upon reasona- 
ble terms), where he proposes teaching Reading and Writing gram- 
matically; Arithmetic, Vulgar and Decimal; Mensuration of planes 
and solids; Guagiug; Dialing; Trigonometry, plain and spherical; 
Surveying, in theory and practice; Plain sailing, parallel, middle lati- 
tude, and Mercartor's sailing, either trigonometrically, geometrically, 
arithmetically, instrumentally, or by inspection ; Orthographic, Stero- 
graphic and Globular projections on any of the planes; the elements 
of Geography; Nautical Astronomy, &c. He engages to communi- 
cate any of the above Arts or Sciences, with method, perspicuity and 
dispatch ; and will ask nothing for his trouble, should any of his pu- 
pils upon examination be found deficient; except where the scholar's 
incapacity or non-attendance can be made appear. He will teach either 
by the year or branch. Terms may be known by applying to me, in 
order to which enquire at Battletown. 

"The public's most humble servant, 

"Feb. 6, 1788. JOHN CARE." 

All tradition, even, of that old school has passed out of the remem- 
brance of the oldest inhabitant of Frederick or Clarke Counties. It 
was established five months before the national constitution of the 
proposed federation of States was ratified and a year before the 
United States had a president. The old pedagogue, Carr, must have 
been a man of wide and versatile attainments, and his school was at- 
tended, doubtless, by the sons of most of the gentry of that section. 
Here the "young ideas" of the leading families were "taught to 
shoot" — the youthful Burwells, Pages, Randolphs, Nelsons, Carters, 
Calmes, Peytons, Magills, Colstons, Streblings, Moores, Smiths, Tay- 
lors and others, all, all, long since passed to the great Hereafter. 

Large tracts of land were placed on sale at the close of the ReA^o- 
lution, caused by the new order of affairs. Money was needed by the 
land-owners, some of whose estates ran into the thousands of acres. 
Settlers were encouraged to come to the fertile and promising Shen- 



484 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

ancloah Valley, and about this period, 1788-90, a tide of emigration 
set in from Eastern Virginia that furnished many of the best names 
now to be found in Clarke. In the old newsjDapers of Winchester of 
the dates just given appear a number of advertisements and other 
matters that furnish hints of what was going on in that portion of 
Frederick County now under discussion. Nathaniel Burwell, he who 
donated two acres of land where the "Old Chapel" now stands, the 
burying-ground around which being known by many persons now as 
the "Burwell Burying Ground," offered for sale 1,100 acres of land 
on Locust Level, eight miles from Winchester. Hugh Nelson offers 
for sale 2,200 acres of land. Mr. Nelson is the gentleman who, be- 
fore the Revolution, offered the same two acres of land upon which 
the Old Chapel is built, that Col. Burwell afterward gave, the ' lat- 
ter in the meantime having become the owner of it. Ralph Wormley 
offered 2,500 acres of land to purchasers, at very reasonable rates, if 
they would at once settle upon the property. This was a portion of 
13,000 acres of land that George Washington, many years before, had 
advised Wormley to purchase, and which had been thrown upon the 
market at Williamsburg in consequence of the original grantee be- 
coming insolvent. It is said to have been sold for only 500 guineas 
and tljat W^ashington assured Wormley at the time of the sale that 
he had surveyed the land and knew it well, and that if he did not 
wish to retain it after procuring it, that he would take it off his hands. 
Thomas Bryan Martin and Gabriel Jones, executors of Thomas Lord 
Fairfax, advertise in the same old papers spoken of above that all per- 
sons having claims against " his lordship's " estate should bring them 
forward and prove them, or forever hold their peace. Martin was the 
nephew of Lord Fairfax, and fell heir to the Greenway Court property. 
He was a very prominent man in the early history of Frederick 
County; was a candidate for the House of Burgesses on the ticket 
with Washington, in 1758, and elected with that illustrious man, two 
others being defeated, Hugh West and Thomas Swearingen; he was 
a magistrate of Frederick County and colonel of the county militia; 
was a warm personal friend of Gen. Adam Stephen, who named his 
town, Martinsburg, for him. Gabriel Jones, the other executor named, 
Avas one of the most noted lawyers of colonial times, and lived to a 
great age. He has been mentioned several times in this work, nota- 
bly, in consequence of the fact that he was one of the first lawyers 
admitted to practice at the first court in 1743, and again, thirty-three 



CLARKE COUNTY. 485 

years later, in 1776, he was the first lawyer to step up to the bar of the 
court and take the oath of fealty to the new government of the Old 
Commonwealth, with glorious Patrick Henry at the helm instead of a 
royal George and a minion Lord Dunmore. Lawyer Jones was one of 
the first king's attorneys for Frederick County, and Augusta County, 
as well. 

In 1787 the following advertisement, which is so minutely partic- 
ular in its descriptions, so in accord with the times in this section, 
and being in relation to a slave owned in Clarke, is given entire, 
although advertisements of that class were not infrequent then, and 
for many years thereafter. Also, as a means of preserving this curi- 
ous specimen, curious to thousands of the younger generation to 
whom the institution of slavery is as a sealed book, it is thought 
proper to give it a place in this work. To the faces of many of the 
older readers hereof, it is hoped, it may bring a smile of interest, and 
even wonder, as they reflect upon the old ante-bellum period with its pe- 
culiarities, its pleasures and its odd customs. None but the Southern- 
raised man or Avoman understands, or ever did understand, prop- 
erly, the curious anomaly of slavery existing in the freest land upon 
which the sun ever shone. It was one of those unavoidable results of 
an act, or series of acts, perpetrated by a nation of foreigners who 
considered their traffic in Africans legitimate. The English colonists 
in Virginia had no thought of the serious results that were to follow 
in the course of the years lying so dormant in the womb of the misty 
future of nearly three centuries. But here is one of the accompani- 
ments of our old system: 

T'weniy Pounds Reioard for Taking Negro Harry. 
RANAWAY from the subscriber living in Anne Arundel county, 
Maryland, about twenty-five miles below Frederick-town, on the road to 
Baltimoretown, on the 9th of September, 1787, a very likely negro man 
named Harry, aged about twenty-nine years, about five feet nine or 
ten inches high, of a yellowish complexion, wears his wool combed 
up, has a proud, swaggering walk, and a very bold, impudent look, a 
large thick beard, small hands and feet, but very broad across the first 
joint of the toes ; when spoken to is apt to smile, and will be very im- 
pudent and impertinent, and give very short answers; he is a stout, 
strong, square, well-made fellow. His dress when he went away was 
an old dark fearnought over-jacket, patched at the elbows with white 
welch cotton ; he had on a new iron collar and iron fetters, but I 
expect he will soon get them off. He ran away about three years ago, 
and stole one of my best work mares, and went into Berkeley county, 



486 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

in Virginia, to a Mr. John Ariss' ; he also ran away on the first o£ July 
last, and went again to Mr. Ariss', and that neighborhood, where he was 
harboured by negroes, his relations, for some time, and there stole a 
good horse and saddle from a Mr. Greenfield, and went off for the 
back parts of Pennsylvania, he was taken up with the horse and saddle 
by a certain Captain James Warford, in Bedford county, and was 
brought home by him on the 30th August last, and only stayed ten 
days at home, before he set off on his present trip. When he was last 
taken he called himself Daniel, and endeavored to pass for a free man. 
I purchased him about nine years ago of Col. Warner Washington, at 
Battle-Town, Frederick county, Virginia; and I expect he will go into 
the neighborhood of Mr. Ariss' and Washington's, as soon as he can 
steal some good clothes here to change his dress, and a good horse and 
saddle to ride on, and to push off for the back parts of Virginia, or 
Pennsylvania, towards Pittsburg or Juniata, and there endeavor to 
pass for a free man by some fictious name. I will give twenty pounds 
reward for taking and bringing home to me the said fellow, if he be 
taken over or on the side of the Alleghany or Ohio rivers, or twenty 
dollars if taken out of this State, 150 miles from home, and brought to 
me, with reasonable charges, or five pounds if taken in this State 100 
miles from home and brought to me, with reasonable charges in pro- 
portion for a greater or less distance. He is an artful, subtile villain, 
and when taken, ought to be well secured wdth irons, otherwise he 
certainly will make his escape. All masters of vessels and others are 
hereby forbid to harbour, employ, or carry off the said fellow, at their 
peril. REUBEN MEPvIWEATHER. 

September 19, 1787. 

Battletown having grown into proportions that would justify its 
establishment by law, the owners of most of the land upon which it 
was laid out, Benjamin Berry and Sarah Strebling, made application 
to the General Assembly of the Commonwealth, in January, 1798, to 
pass an act in that regard, which was granted as follows: 
'^An Act to Establish the Town of Berryville, 2>c(ssed Jannary 15, 
1798. 

'^ Be it enacted, That twenty acres of land, the property of Benja- 
min Berry and Sarah Strebling, in the county of Frederick, as the 
same are already laid off into lots and streets, be established a town 
by the name of Berryville, and William McGuire, Archibald Magill, 
Daniel Morgan, Rawleigh Colston, John Milton, Thomas Strebling, 
George Blackmore, Charles Smith and Bushrod Taylor, gentlemen, 
constituted trustees thereof, who, or a majority of whom, shall have 
the like powers with the trustees of any other town in this common- 
wealth not incorporated." 



CLAEKE COUNTY. 487 

The town was enlarged by an act passed January 10, 1803, as fol- 
lows : 

" Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That twenty -five acres of 
land, the property of Charles Smith, lying on the east side of the town 
of Berryville, in the county of Frederick, and on both sides of the 
main road leading to Alexandria, so soon as the same shall be laid off 
into lots of half an acre each, with convenient streets, shall be added 
to and made a part of the said town of Berryville." 

A second enlargement was authorized by act of March 26, 1842. 
The same act created what was known as the "Trustee form" of town 
government, which lasted until the act of incorporation, approved 
October 29, 1870, when a charter was granted. The act reads as 
follows : 

"1. Be it enacted by the General Assemby of Virginia, That the 
town of Berryville, in the county of Clarke, as the same has been and 
shall hereafter be laid off into lots, streets and alleys, shall be and the 
same is hereby made a town corporate, by the name and style of the 
Town of Berryville, and by that name shall have and exercise the 
powers, and be subject to all the provisions of the code of Virginia, 
except so far as may be herein otherwise provided, and may sue and 
be sued by its corporate name. 

" 2. The corporate limits and bounds of Berryville shall be as 
follows: Beginning at tollgate on the Berryville and Millwood turn- 
pike; thence running in straight line to the dwelling-house of D. H. 
McGuire; thence in direct line to the dwelling-house on the farm 
owned by Treadwell Smith, and but recently occupied by E. E. Snith ; 
thence in direct line to the dwelling-house of John W. Beemer; thence 
in direct line to the Mansion-house of the Eosemont farm, now occu- 
pied by Charles Boxwell ; thence by direct line to the beginning — the 
tollgate aforesaid. 

"3. That S. J. C. Moore, Israel Greene, J. T. Griffith, C. E. 
Lippitt, Carter Shepherd, John T. Crow, George C. Thomas, Prof. 
William Johnston and G. E. S. Phillips, are hereby appointed com- 
missioners to divide said town into four wards, a majority of whom 
may act, which report shall be returned to and secured in the clerk's 
office of the county court of Clarke county. 

"4. The municipal authorities of said town shall consist of a 
mayor, recorder and four aldermen, who shall be elected annually. 
The mayor and recorder shall be elected by the qualified voters ol 



488 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

said town, and the voters of each ward shall elect one alderman, who 
must be a resident of said ward. And all persons qualified to vote in 
said election shall be eligible to either of said offices. 

" 5. All the corporate powers of said corporation shall be exer- 
cised by the said council, or under their authority, except when other- 
wise provided, including all the powers heretofore vested in the 
trustees of said town. 

" 6. There shall be a town sergeant, treasurer, and an assessor of 
said town ^.ppointed by the council." 

Sections 7, 8 and 9 are in regard to the election of a town ser- 
geant, contested elections, qualifications, special elections and vacan- 
cies. Section 10 was in regard to the manner of qualification of the 
ofiicers elected; 11, ineligibility and how remedied, and 12, 13, 14, 15, 
16, 17, 18, defines the powers of the council and other matters. The 
other sections of the law, running to the 41st inclusive, are in the na- 
ture of regulations for the better government of the town. 

March 23, 1871, an act was passed amending Sections 2 and 3 of 
the above law, the changes being in regard to the " corporate limits " 
and "commissioners," and are as follows: 

" § 2. The corporate limits and bounds of Berry ville shall be as 
follows: Beginning at the northwest corner of the Episcopal parson- 
age lot; thence with the line of said lot following the fence, and the 
same line continued to a point on the western side of the Charlestown 
turnpike; theruce to the northwest corner of D. B. Burn's lot; thence 
with the line of said lot, also a line of Col. Treadwell Smith's line, to 
the Winchester turnpike ; thence to a locust tree in the southwest cor- 
ner of Crow's field, near DifPendaffer's house; thence to the corner of 
Crow's field on the Millwood turnpike, near the toll-gate; thence cross- 
ing the turnpike to the southeast corner of James Vandeventer's lot; 
thence to the Snicker's Ferry turnpike at a point directly opposite the 
corner of James W. Thomas and E. C. Marshall, Jr. ; thence crossing 
said last named turnpike and following the line of said Thomas and 
Marshall to the northeast corner of said Thomas' lot; thence to the 
beginning. 

"§ 3. That S. J. C. Moore, Israel Greene, J. T. Griffith, Carter 
Shepherd, John T. Crow, George C. Thomas, George E. S. Phillips 
and Enos Richmond, are hereby appointed commissioners to divide 
said town into four wards, a majority of whom may act, which report 
shall be returned to and secured in the clerk's office of the county 



CLARKE COUNTY. 489 

court of Clarke County, Virginia. And the said commissioners shall 
order, hold and superintend the first election under this act, and shall 
decide all questions arising in said election, and grant certificates of 
election to the parties chosen, which shall delegate to them and be 
evidence of all authority vested in such officers by the act to which 
this is an amendment." 

February 10, 1873, an act again amending several sections of the 
first and second acts was passed as follows: 

"§ 2. That the corporate limits of Berry ville shall be as follows: 
Beginning at the northeast corner of the Episcopal parsonage lot; 
thence with the line of said lot following the fence and the line of said 
lot to a point on the western side of the Charlestown turnpike; thence 
by a straight line to the northwest corner of D. B. Burn's lot; thence 
with the line of said lot and Colonel Treadwell Smith's land to the 
Winchester turnpike; thence to a locust tree in the southwest corner 
of Crow's field on the Millwood turnpike, near the toll-gate; thence 
crossing the turnpike to the southeast corner of James Vandeventer's 
lot; thence by a line due east to the intersection of a line of one hun- 
dred yards east of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, and parallel with 
the same; thence with said parallel line to its intersection Avitli the 
line of the parsonage lot above mentioned, prolonged; thence with 
the said prolonged line to the beginning. 

" § 4. The municipal authorities of said town shall consist of a 
mayor, recorder, four councilmen; the councilmen to reside one in 
each ward, to be elected by the voters of said town. All persons qual- 
ified to vote in said election shall be eligible to either of said offices. 

" § 10. The mayor, recorder and councilmen shall each, before 
entering upon the duties of their office, make oath or affirmation that 
they will truly, faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of their 
said offices to the best of their abilities, so long as they shall continue 
therein. The mayor shall take said oath before any officer authorized 
by law to administer oaths, and the councilmen before the mayor. The 
same shall continue in office until the qualification of the successors." 

Once more, January 14, 1882, the town charter was so amended as 
to change the limits as follows: 

"§ 2. That the corporate linaits and bounds of the town of Ber- 
ryville shall be as follows: Beginning at the corner of the Episcopal 
parsonage lot; thence with the line of said lot, a western course, to a 
point on the western side of the Charlestown turnpike; thence with 



490 HISTORY OF THE LOWEK SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

the line of said pike, northward, to a point on the same, the intersec- 
tion of the northern line of Thompson & Ogden's lot, purchased of 
Helvestine, with said turnpike; thence with the said line of Thomp- 
son & Ogden and the line between John O. Crown and Miss Annie M. 
Smith's, in a western course, to the point of intersection with the line 
of A. Moore, Jr. ; thence with the line between said A. Moore, Jr., 
and said Crown, in a southern course, extending said line across the 
Winchester pike and into the Tyson land to its intersection with a 
line parting from the southwest corner of James H. Vandeventer's lot 
and the Millwood turnpike, and at right angles to the line of said 
turnpike; thence by the said line last mentioned to said Vandeventer's 
said corner; thence by a line due east to its intersection with a line 
parallel to the line of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, and one hun- 
dred yards east thereof; thence from said intersection with said paral- 
lel line, in a northern course, to its intersection with the said line of 
said Episcopal lot, prolonged toward the east, and thence with said 
prolonged line to the beginning." 

Several other minor amendments were made at various times, until 
the local appliances for the government of the orderly and cheerful 
county seat of Clarke is well nigh perfect. 

Following are the mayors of Berryville from the incorporation to 
the present time: 

Matthew Pulliam, from November 1, 1871, to October 16, 1872; 
A. Moore, Jr., from October 16, 1872, to October 16, 1875; Marshall 
McCormick, from October 16, 1875, to October 16, 1877; A. Moore, 
Jr!, October 16, 1877, to October 16, 1878 ; S. Scollay Moore, from 
October 16, 1878, to October 16, 1879; A. W. McDonald, from Octo- 
ber 16, 1879, to October 16, 1882; Samuel J. C. Moore, from October 
16, 1882, to October 16, 1885; George C. Thomas, from October 16, 
1885, to October 16, 1888; Samuel J. C. Moore, from October 16, 
1888, to present time. 

Present Officers of Town. — Mayor, Samuel J. C. Moore; recorder, 
Conrad Kownslar; aldermen, George Glass, John H. Shackleford, 
James M. Nesmith, R. D. Hardesty; treasurer, iCoger B. Smith; as- 
sessor, George M. Britton; overseer of the poor, Matthew Pulliam; 
sergeant, D. H. Tavenner. 

The Churches. — Clarke County, or the territory comprising it, was 
at a very early day the seat of two or more of the primitive churches. 
Cunningham's Chapel, as has been stated, was one of the very first 



CLARKE COUNTY. 491 

religious edifices erected west of the Blue Eidge Mountains, and Mc- 
Coy's Chapel was another not very far distant, on the road to what is 
now Front Eoyal. Who the first ministers were at the date of the 
establishment of these chapels is not now known. The population was 
sparse, and they were doubtless visited only occasionally by ministers 
of the Established Church. Lord Fairfax worshiped at the chapel 
known as " Cunningham's," some six miles from Greenway Court, the 
residence of his lordship. In this connection the old records of Fred- 
erick County show two or three interesting facts in a nutshell. One 
of the entries in the justices' order books, as heretofore stated, reads: 
"Daniel Morgan to be overseer of the road from Cunningham's Chapel 
to His Lordship's." Three historic facts of importance crowded into 
one short sentence! — Gen. Daniel Morgan, the Thunderbolt of the 
Revolution ; Thomas Lord Fairfax, proprietor of one-third of Virginia, 
and historic old Cunningham's Chapel. 

Grace Episcopal Church. — This parish was originally within the 
limits of the cure administered by the Rev. Mr. Balmaine. Subse- 
quently the Rt. Rev. William Meade extended his ministerial labors 
over this parish, while he was rector at the old stone chapel of the 
Millwood congregation. The Rev. Dr. Jones and others occasionally 
visited the parish, and preached at Wickliffe Church at stated inter- 
vals, Clarke parish then not having been formed from WickliflPe par- 
ish. The Rev. Jared Rice had charge for one year. The Berryville 
congregation had been worshiping in the old stone academy in the 
village, but under Mr. Rice's rectorship a church building was com- 
pleted. The intention of the people was at first to make the building 
a union church, but by the advice of Bishop Meade, it was erected 
for the sole use of the Episcopalians. Mr. Rice's services, so auspi- 
ciously commenced, were terminated by a speedy removal and a pre- 
mature death. The Rev. William M. Jackson succeeded him, taking 
charge of the congregation in Berryville and Wickliffe in 183^. He 
was the rector for eight years. 

The Rev. Alex. Shiras was the next minister, from 1840 to 1844. 
Under him the rectory in Berryville was built, and the present Wick- 
liffe Church commenced. Toward the erection of the church, Mrs. 
Gen. Parker had left a bequest of $500. 

The Rev. William H. Wilmer succeeded Mr. Shiras in 1844, and 
resigned in 1849. During his rectorship, the new church at Wick- 
liffe was consecrated by Bishop Meade, on February 5, 1846, and in 



492 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. • 

1848 Grace Church, in Berryville, was improved by the addition of 
galleries, and otherwise repaired and enlarged, at an expense of ^800. 

The Rev. Joshua Peterkin became the rector in 1849, and resigned 
in 1852. His brother-in-law, the Rev. William D. Hanson, assisted 
him during this time, in preaching to the servants at Wickliffe and 
to the white people at Kabletown, and also on the mountain, at "Man- 
ning's School-house," and "Mount Carmel," the latter a log chapel, 
built by the exertions of Mr. William J, Williams. 

The Rev. Francis M. Whittle succeeded Mr. Peterkin in 1852. 
During his rectorship, the council in Wheeling, W. Va., in 1853, 
made a division of the old Wickliffe parish, and made Clarke parish. 
In 1854 Mr. Whittle urged the Berryville people to erect a new 
church, and his efforts resulted in the present edifice. Work on the 
new bailding was commenced in 1856 and completed in August, 1857. 
Its cost was $7,500. It was consecrated on August 29, by Bishop 
Meade, the sermon being preached by Rev. R. T. Davis, of Martins- 
burg. Mr. Whittle resigned the rectorship in the fall of 1857. 

The Rev. Nowlin was called to the parish immediately after, but 
only preached twice, when he was taken sick and died in the rectory. 
He was succeeded by the Rev. Henderson Suter, in 1858, whose rec- 
torship lasted until 1866. Mr. Suter was here during the trying 
period of the war, and through his instrumentality the church several 
times was saved from being burned by the Federal army. The Rev. 
T. F. Martin was the rector from 1867 to 1879. The church was sig- 
nally blessed under his ministration. The Rev. P. P. Phillips suc- 
ceeded him in 1879, and is still the rector. In 1883 the church was 
renovated, and enlarged by the addition of a transept, at an expense of 
$4,000. The number of communicants now is 190. 

Baptist Church. — In the year 1772 Daniel and William Fristoe, 
brothers, and Baptist preachers from Stafford County, crossed the 
mounjiains and commenced preaching in private houses near Battle- 
town, now Berryville, and soon gathered a company of baptized be- 
lievers, who were constituted into the Buckmarsh Church. A house 
of worship was built a half mile from Berryville, and there, for more 
than fifty years, regular worship was maintained. The Fristoe broth- 
ers continued to serve the church for some years, though they had to 
ride seventy miles to meet their appointments. About the year 1790 
William Fristoe removed to Shenandoah County, and from that time 
until 1815 or 1820 ministered to the church. Rev. John Monroe, 



CLARKE COUNTY. 493 

M. D., succeeded Fristoe, and lie was followed by Kev. Joseph Baker, 
who, with a short interregnum, remained with the church until 1855. 
Eev. Henry Dodge, D.D., succeeded Baker, and was himself followed 
by Kev. T. B. Shepherd. Rev. Mr. Llewellyn served the church, after 
Shepherd left, for three years. In 1877 Rev. O. Ellyson became pas- 
tor, remaining five years. He was succeeded by Rev. A. C. Barron, 
in 1882, who served the church just two years. Rev. Julian Broad- 
dus followed Barron, and is serving the church at this time. About 1840 
the old church building was abandoned, a new and handsome brick build- 
ing was erected in Berryville, and the name changed from Buck Marsh 
to Berryville. In 1885 a new, handsome and costly church house was 
built, on a commanding situation, which is justly considered an orna- 
ment to the town and a monument to the liberality of its membership. 
From its organization, the church has had in its membership some of 
the most substantial and influential citizens in the neighborhood. 
Rev. Dr. James A. Haynes, Rev. T. B. Shepherd and Rev. Dr. Howard 
Kerfoot are distinguished ministers, who have gone out from this 
church. To-day the church is in a united, harmonious and prosper- 
ous condition. 

Preshyierian Church. — The Presbyterian Church in Berryville was 
organized by a commission of Winchester Presbytery, June 10, 1853. 
There were only eleven members at the organization. The house of 
worship was completed in the summer of 1854. Rev. Charles White 
was the first pastor. He continued in the pastorate until 1875. Since 
that time the church has been served by Rev. C. S. Linghamfelter, 
Rev. A. B. Carrington and Rev. J. H. Moore, the present incumbent. 
The church has now a membership of eighty-seven; owns two 
chapels in the country; has sent off a colony, which has been organ- 
ized into a church at Stone's Chapel, a house of worship about six 
miles northwest of Berryville. 

There are, in addition to the above churches, one Methodist Epis- 
copal Chiirch South and one Methodist Episcopal Church. The 
former is at present under the pastoral charge of Rev. W. E. Wolfe, 
and the latter under the charge of Rev. J. H. Wilson. There are two 
colored churches, one a Free-Will Baptist and the other African 
Methodist Episcopal. 

Green Hill Cemetery Company was organized some years ago, 
when thirteen acres of land were purchased by S. J. C. Moore, J. T. 
Griffith, George C. Thomas, E. C. Marshall, Jr., R. R. Smith, W. R. 



494 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Helvestine, G. Washington Lewis, Ammi Moore, J. J. Eiely, John 
W. Luke, E. O. Allen, John R. Nunn, C. E. Lippitt, John D. Rich- 
ardson, George C. Blakemore, A. W. McDonald and P. J. Affleck. 
The land is a portion of the one time residence of Gen. Daniel Mor- 
gan, and is known as Soldier's Rest. It is a beautiful spot, being well 
kept and much visited by the citizens of the town. 

Public School System. — So early as 1779 Mr. Jefferson, whose 
mind was deeply penetrated with a conviction of the indispensable 
need of an effective scheme of popular education, having undertaken, 
at the request of the General Assembly, in conjunction with Messrs. 
Pendleton and Wythe (the most distinguished jurists of that day in 
the Commonwealth) to make a revisal of the laws adapted to the new 
Republican structure of government, proposed an act whereby every 
county should be divided into wards and districts, and a sufficient tax 
be levied to maintain not elementary schools only, but academies, col- 
leges and a university. 

In 1796 this law was in substance actually enacted; but with a 
single feature which annulled its efficiency. It was left with the 
county courts to determine whether or not the act should go into 
effect in their respective counties. And Mr. Jefferson, adverting to 
the failure of the plan, remarks that " the justices (who then com- 
posed the county courts), being generally of the more wealthy class, 
were unwilling to incur the burden, so that it was not suffered to com- 
mence in a single county." 

After the failure of the act of 1796, no provision for popular edu- 
cation seems to have been even seriously contemplated in Virginia 
until about the year 1810. What is called the "Literary Fund" was 
then found to consist of confiscations, escheats, proceeds of glebe 
lands belonging to the former colonial church (by law established) for- 
feitures, fines, etc. 

It was subsequently swelled by two large accessions of money 
received by A^irginia from the Federal government and its capital at 
the commencement of the late war in 1861 amounted to about 
12,260,000. 

When the fund was first instituted, the revenue derived from it was 
dedicated exclusively to the educating of "poor children." But in 
1816 some transient interest having been awakened in behalf of edu- 
cation, Mr. Jefferson, ever watchful to advance his projects of patri- 
otic beneficence, seized the occasion again to bring forward his great 



CLARKE COUNTY. 495 

system of public instruction, and tlie next year his influence, although 
it was inadequate to effect the establishment of a system of free 
schools which he had much at heart, yet procured an act to erect the 
University of Virginia with a permanent endowment of ^15,000 a 
year out of the literary fund, the residue of the annual income from 
which was set apart, as before the whole had been, for the education of 
"poor children." 

The system of primary education thus inaugurated, contemplating 
as it did the poor alone, and providing totally insufficient funds for 
even a small part of that class, was not wholly futile, but its results 
were meager, indeed, compared with the exigency of the case, until 
1870. 

The constitution of Virginia of 1869 (Art. VIII, § 3) requires the 
General Assembly to "provide by law, at its first session under this Con- 
stitution, a uniform system of public free schools, and for its gradual, 
equal and full introduction into all the counties of the State by the 
year 1876, and as much sooner as practicable." And this constitu- 
tional requirement the Legislature at its first session under the con- 
stitution, in 1869-70, loyally performed. 

The organization of the system contemplates that each county shall 
be divided into so many compactly located magisterial districts as 
may be deemed necessary, not less than three, and each magisterial 
district into so many compactly located school districts as may be 
necessary, but not to contain less than 100 inhabitants, each school dis- 
trict being a corporation capable of suing and being sued, of contract- 
ing, and of buying and holding property. 

It contemplates further that the officers charged with the adminis- 
tration of the system shall be (1) three school trustees for each school 
district; (2) a superintendent of public schools for each county; (3) 
a school-trustee electoral board for each county; (4) county school 
boards composed of the county superintendent and district school 
trustees; (5) a superintendent of public instruction for the State, 
and (6) a board of education with very extensive powers of super- 
vision and regulation of the whole machinery. 

The board of education is a corporation composed of the gov- 
ernor, superintendent of public instruction and attorney-general. 

It is the duty of the board to appoint and to remove for cause 
and upon notice to the incumbent, subject to confirmation by the 
Senate, all county superintendents of public free schools; to provide 



496 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

gradually for -unifGrmity of text-books, and the furnishing of school- 
houses with necessary apparatus and library under regulations to be 
provided by law; to make regulations, generally, for the administra- 
tion of the system; to submit to the Legislature an annual report; to 
regulate, according to law, the management and investment of all 
school funds, and to exercise such supervision of schools of higher 
grades as the law shall provide. 

Present board of education: Fitzhugh Lee, governor of Virginia; 
John L. Buchanan, superintendent of public instruction of Virginia ; 
Kufus A. Ayers, attorney-general of Virginia. 

The superintendent of public instruction is elected by the General 
Assembly upon joint ballot of the two houses, to hold office for four 
years and until his successor is qualified. 

He is charged with the general supervision of the public free school 
interests of the State; and to enable him to accomplish that object 
efiiciently he is clothed with large powers and has a correspondingly 
wide circle of duties. Amongst other things it is his duty to interpret 
and expound the school laws; prescribe the forms of registers and 
reports; to apportion the school funds to the several counties and 
cities; to make tours of inspection amongst the public schools of the 
State; to cause the school laws to be faithfully executed; to promote 
by all proper means an appreciation and desire of education amongst 
the people ; and to submit to the General Assembly through the board 
of education an annual report, exhibiting all desirable statistics of num- 
bers, expenditures and results connected with the working of the school 
system. 

County superintendents of .schools, one for each county, are ap- 
pointed and removed for cause and upon notice to the incumbent by the 
board of education subject to confirmation by the senate. The term of 
office of a county superintendent is three years and until his successor 
is qualified. His duty is more immediately to supervise and control with- 
in his county the working of the system of free schools ; to promote an 
appreciation and desire of education among the people; to prepare 
annually or oftener if need be under the direction of the superintend- 
ent of public instruction a scheme for the apportionment of the State 
and county school funds among the school districts of the county ; to 
examine persons applying for license to teach; to promote the im- 
provements of teachers by all proper methods under the direction of 
the State superintendent to visit all the public schools in his county 



CLARKE COUNTY. 497 

as often as practicable and inquire into every particular of their con- 
duct and administration ; to decide all questions and complaints within 
his county touching the school system subject to appeal to the State 
superintendent and from him to the board of education; to require 
annually or oftener if necessary from the clerks of the boards of the 
district school trustees full statistics touching the public free schools 
of their respective districts; to observe the directions of the State 
superintendent, and to make to that officer an annual report touching 
such particulars as he may prescribe. Present county superintendent 
of schools of Clarke County, William F. Meade. 

The school-trustee electoral board is composed of the county judge, 
county superintendent of schools and the attorney for the Common- 
wealth in each county, A majority of the board constitutes a quorum, 
and its function is to appoint school trustees for the several school dis- 
tricts in the county, a duty which at first devolved upon the State 
board of education. Present school trustee electoral board of Clarke 
County: Giles Cook, Jr., judge of the County Court; William F. 
Meade, county superintendent of schools; G, G. Calmes, Common- 
wealth's attorney. 

The county school board is a corporation composed of the county 
superintendent of schools and of the district school trustees, under the 

style of "The County School Board of County," with power 

to contract, take and hold property and to sue and be sued. 

All property of every description dedicated to school purposes for 
the use of the county is vested in the county school board, unless in- 
consistent with the grant or devise upon such terms and conditions 
for the security of the property as the court of the county shall pre- 
scribe. The board is to manage all such property and apply the prof- 
its for the purposes of education in the same manner and under the 
same restrictions as the general school fund is applied, except that the 
board may apply a portion in their discretion to the erection of school 
houses or the purchase of school apparatus; always provided that no 
disposition is made inconsistent with the grant or devise. 

The board is charged also with the duty of supervising the admin- 
istration of all trusts for the purposes of common-school education 
within the county, and to that end may require reports from the 
trustees and if need be may take immediate measures for carrying 
the matter before the civil courts. 

Present County School Board of Clarke County. — Battletown Dis- 



498 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

trict: Thomas McCormick, Marshall McCormick, William C. Morgan; 
Chapel District: H. Ritter, I. K. Briggs; Greenway District: Will- 
iam T. Kerfoot, Thomas M, Lewis, Johu F. Sowers; Long Marsh 
District: J. W. Luke, John Bromley, Thomas Gold. 

In each school district the school-trustee electoral board appoints 
annually one school trustee, whose term of office is three years and until 
his successor is qualified; three having been appointed the first time for 
one, two and three years, respectively. The three school trustees con- 
stitute a board which is charged with the duty of carrying the school 
system in detail into practical efPect within its district. It is to explain, 
enforce, and itself observe the school laws and regulations; to employ 
and dismiss teachers; to suspend and dismiss pupils; to supply text- 
books gratuitously to those too poor to procure them ; to see that the 
school census is correctly taken ; to convene meetings of the people of 
the district for consultation in regard to the school interests thereof; 
to prepare annually, and before the 15th of November, to report 
to the president of the county school board, to be laid before the board 
at its earliest meeting, an estimate of the amount needed during the 
next scholastic year for providing school-houses, school books for in- 
digent children and other school appliances, and necessary, proper and 
lawful expenses; to take care of and manage the school property of 
the district; to visit the public schools within the district from time 
to time, and to take care that they are lawfully and efficiently con- 
ducted, and to report to the county superintendent annually and when- 
ever required, according to the forms prescribed. 

The funds provided for the support of this educational system 
consist of a fixed literary fund, the annual income alone to be expended 
and annual funds derived from State, county and district taxes, etc. 
The literary fund is composed of the remnant of the old literary fund 
( amounting, including arrears of interest due from the Commonwealth, 
to somewhat over $2,000,000), the proceeds of all public lands donated 
by Congress for public school purposes, of all escheated property, of all 
waste and unappropriated lands, of all property accruing to the State 
by forfeiture, and all fines collected for offenses committed against the 
State, donations made for the purpose, and such other sums as the 
General Assembly may appropriate. These are to be set apart as a 
permanent and perpetual "literary fund," to remain unimpaired and 
entire, and the annual income arising therefrom is dedicated exclu- 
sively to the maintenance of public free schools. The annual funds 



CLARKE COUNTY. 499 

(besides the income derived from the literary fund) consist of taxes 
levied by the State, taxes levied on the counties severally, and dona- 
tions made thereto, and taxes levied on the school districts and dona- 
tions made to them respectively. 

The State funds for public schools consist (besides the income 
from the literary fund) of a capitation tax not exceeding $1 per 
annum on every male citizen of twenty-one or upward, and of such 
tax on property, from one to j&ve mills on the dollar, as the General 
Assembly shall from time to time order to be levied. 

The county funds for schools embrace such tax as shall be levied 
by the board of supervisors of the county, pursuant to law, fines and 
penalties arising from the violation of certain of the school laws, and 
donations made to the county for school purposes. 

The district funds for schools embrace such tax as shall be levied 
on the school district by the board of supervisors of the county pur- 
suant to law, fines and penalties arising from violations of certain dis- 
trict regulations, and donations made to the district for school pur- 
poses. But prior to 1876 the. county and district school tax together 
is not to exceed two mills on the dollar in any year. 

Of the regulations which govern the school system, some are con- 
tained in the constitution and some are statutory; whilst others are 
prescribed by the board of education. Most of the provisions relate 
to primary schools, but some of those contained in the constitution 
contemplate seminaries of a higher order. The General Assembly has 
power, after a full introduction of the public free school system, to 
make such laws as shall not permit parents and guardians to allow 
their children to grow up in ignorance and vagrancy. 

The General Assembly is required to establish, as soon as possible, 
normal schools (that is, schools to instruct teachers in the art of teach- 
ing), and may establish agricultural schools and such grades of 
schools as shall be for the public good. 

The General Assembly shall have power to foster all high grades 
of schools under its supervision, and to provide for such purposes a 
permanent educational fund; and all grants and donations shall be 
applied according to the terms prescribed by the donors. 

No teacher can be employed in the public schools until he has ob- 
tained a certificate of qualification from the superintendent of the 
county within which he is employed. 

The public schools are free to all persons between the ages of five 



500 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

and twenty-one years, and in special cases, to be regulated by the 
board of education, persons residing out of the district, or even out of 
the State, may be admitted. But white and colored persons are not 
to be taught in the same school, although there is to be no difference 
in the provision made for them. 

The board of education is empowered and required to regulate all 
matters arising in the practical administration of the school system 
which are not otherwise provided for. 

The public free-school system has cost the State, since 1872, 
§19,500,000; of this sum $5,000,000 has been expended for the main- 
tenance of the colored free schools. 

The total amount expended on the public free schools in Virginia, 
for the year 1888, is $1,558,352.70; amount expended for same in Clarke 
County, in 1888, $10,247.07. The number of schools in Virginia, 
amounted, in 1888, to white, 5,154; colored, 2,115 ; total, 7,269. Number 
of teachers for same, in 1888, white, 5,373; colored, 1,909; total, 7,282. 
Number of schools in Clarke County, year 1888, white, 24; colored, 10; 
total 34. Number of teachers in Clarke County, year 1888, white, 25; 
colored, 11; total, 36. Number of pupils enrolled in Virginia, for the 
year 1888, white, 211,449; colored, 118,831; total, 330,280. Number 
of pupils enrolled in Clarke County, year 1888, white, 1,076 ; colored, 
529; total, 1,605. Number of school-houses built in Virginia during 
the year 1888, 309. Amount invested during the year 1888 in per- 
manent improvements — real estate, buildings, furniture, etc. — $169,- 
110.93. 

The growth of the school system can be justly regarded as 
healthy, vigorous and uniform. The records of the year 1888 show 
more schools in operation, and more school-houses in use, more graded 
schools established, more teachers employed, more pupils in attend- 
ance, and more school funds expended, than those of any year since 
the system was inaugurated. 

A comparison of the school statistics of the different States shows 
that school funds are as economically applied in Virginia as in any 
other of the States, and the results attained equally as satisfactory, in 
view of all the conditions which enter into the problem. The school 
system aims to provide for the education of two races in separate 
schools. Legislation in regard to the public schools has been both 
judicious and friendly. An enlightened public sentiment willingly 
accords them a generous support in so far as the revenue can furnish 
it without an oppressive taxation. 



CLARKE COUNTY. 501 

Shenandoah University School is an institution at Berryville that 
prepares youths and young men for either business or college, and 
includes a very full course of preparatory technology and civil engin- 
eering. Prof. William McDonald is principal. 

Clarke Coui'ier is the title of the only newspaper in Clarke County. 
It is ably edited and conducted by John O. Crown, who wields a 
trenchant yet conservative pen, and who is a thorough printer, having 
acquired his profession in the days when boys were taught the whole 
of a trade. 

OrganizaUons in Clarke County. — Ancient Free and Accepted 
Masons, Berryville. 

1st Lodge. — George Washington Lodge No. 57, chartered by the 
Grand Lodge of Virginia, December 17, 1840. Officers: S. B. T. 
Caldwell, master; James Seevers, senior warden; W. P. Wiggenton, 
junior warden; suspended 1851. 

2d Lodge. — Chandler Lodge No. 148, chartered December 11, 
1855. Officers: S. S. Neill, master; John Reynolds, senior warden; 

B. C. Reynolds, junior warden. 

3d Lodge. — Treadwell Lodge No. 213, chartered December 12, 
1866. Officers: S. S. Neill, master; S. J. C. Moore, senior warden; 

C. E. Lippitt, junior warden. This lodge is in a flourishing and pros- 
perous condition and numbers about forty members. Present officers 
of Treadwell Lodge, No. 213, A. R &■ A. M., elected in June, 1889: 
H. L. D. Lewis, worshipful master; J. Marshall McCormick, senior 
warden; Conrad Kownslar, junior warden; H. W. Baker, treasurer; 
George Glass, secretary; R. K. Ogden, senior deacon; G. W. Levi, 
junior deacon ; Rev. P. P. Phillips, chaplain ; Julian Morales, tyler. 

Improved Order of Red Men. Seminole Tribe No. 35, I. O. R. M., 
organized December 14, 1870; chartered May 4, 1871. Original offi- 
cers: George M. Gordon, sachem; George H. Isler, senior sagamore; 
J. r. Milton, junior sagamore; J. R. Smith, chief of records; G. W. 
Koonce, keeper of wampum; William G. Bilmire, prophet. Present 
officers Seminole Tribe No. 35, I. O. R. M. : J. F. Thomas, sachem ; 
J. W. Gaver, senior sagamore; D. F. Hinkins, junior sagamore; W. H. 
Carter, chief of records; P. J. Affleck, keeper of wampum; R. D. 
Hardesty, prophet. 

Independent Order of Good Templars, chartered August 25, 1885. 
Original officers: W. S. Kerfoot, worthy chief templar; Miss Kate 
Taylor, worthy vice-templar; Rev. Julian Broadus, worthy chaplain; 



502 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

J. T. Griffith, worthy secretary ; C. W. Taylor, worthy assistant secre- 
tary; John Stidham, worthy financial secretary; Miss Bo se Lancaster, 
worthy treasurer. Present officers of I. O. G. T. , electecTrw . F. Kerf oot, 
chief templar; Miss _ Nora Marshall, vice-templar; Daniel Knight, 
chaplain; E. H. Allen, secretary; Miss Laura Howell, assistant secre- 
tary; M. H. Liady, financial secretary; Miss Nannie Phillips, treas- 
urer; G. H. Oliver, past chief templar. 

Bank of Clarke County was organized January 22, 1881. Capital 
stock, $30,000; surplus, $3,000. Officers: A. Moore, Jr., president; 
J. R. Nunn, cashier; James W. Luke, assistant cashier; John Neill, 
teller. Board of directors: A. Moore, Jr., M. McCormick, M. W. 
Jones, D. T. Wood, J. E. Barnett, T. D. Gold, W. B. Clagett. 

Courts — Circuit: Judg^e R. H. Turner; terms begin February 1, 
May 10, and October 1. County: Judge Giles Cook, Jr.; terms be- 
gin second Tuesday in every month. 

County officers: Clerk of Circuit and County courts, John M. 
Gibson; deputy clerk of Circuit and County courts, George Glass; 
Commonwealth's attorney, George G. Calmes; commissioner of the 
revenue, J. T. Griffith; sheriff, George W. Levi; treasurer, M. W. 
Jones; superintendent of schools, William F. Meade; couuty__ sur- 
veyor^ JoshuajC^ Fletcher; superintendent of the poor, Peter Fuqua. 

County Boards. — Board of Supervisors: Province McCormick, chair- 
man ; Washington Dearmont, Charles T. Jones, Thomas B. Levi. 

School Trustee Electoral Board: Giles Cook, Jr., William F. 
Meade, George G. Calmes. 

Board of School Trustees. — Green way District: W. T. Kerfoot, 
Thomas M. Lewis, John F. Sowers; Chapel District: H. Ritter, I. 
K. Briggs, Samuel J. Wylie; Battletown District: William C. Mor- 
gan, Thomas McCormick, M. McCormick; Long Marsh District: J. 
W. Luke, John Bromley, Thomas D. Gold. 

Road Boards. — Greenway District: Washington Dearmont, R. 
Powell Page, William Wharton; Chapel District: Thomas B. Levi, 
A. J. Thompson; Battletown District: Province McCormick, Aaron 
Duble, J. Powers; Long Marsh District: Charles T. Jones, Jesse N. 
Russell. 

Justices of the Peace. — Greenway District: I. A. Chrismau, 

Thomas B. Chamblin, B. T. Silman ; Chapel District: Jacob Vorous, 

^Trone Sprint, James W. Lee; Battletown District: M. Pulliam, J. 

Powers, George A. Bell; Long Marsh District: Jesse M. Russell, 

Joseph R. Hardesty, Augustus Cain. 



CLARKE COUNTY. 503 

Constables. — Greenway District: John Clirismore; Chapel District: 
Thomas Lee; Battletown District: J. W. Perks; Long Marsh Dis- 
trict: John Enders. 

Commissioners in Chancery of Circuit Court: John Y. Page, Con- 
rad Kownslar, William C. Morgan, Charles E. Lee. 

Commissioner of Accounts in County Court: John Y. Page. 

Officers of the town of Berryville.— Mayor, S. J. C. Moore; re- 
corder, William F. Kerfoot; town council, James W. Gaver, John 
H.^Shacklef ord, E. K. Ogden, Louis V. Stolle ; town sergeant, Henry 
Tavener. 

Manufactures. — Phoenix Carriage Works, George C. Thomas, pro- 
prietor; established January 1, 1867. Planing and Grist Mill, Thomp- 
son & Ogden, proprietors; established 1884. Creamery, Kingsley 
Bros., proprietors; established 1887. 

Corporations. — Shenandoah Valley Driving Park, incorporated by 
act of General Assembly, approved March 2, 1888. Under act of incor- 
poration capital stock not to be less than $1,000, nor more than $20,000, 
divided into shares of $50 each. Officers of the company: E. P. Page, 
president; S. S. Thomas, secretary; C. Kownslar, treasurer. 

Attorneys. — Eesident lawyers who have practiced at the Berryville 
bar: John E. Page (first Commonwealth's attorney of Clarke County), 
Eobert M. Page, Lewis Glover, Province McCormick, Hugh H. Lee, E. 
Jacquelin Smith, David Funston, Thomas M. Tidball, George W. Brad- 
field, E. B. Mantor, James F. Trayhern, William Byrd Page, William 
W. Wood, David H. McGuiie, Uriah Wright, D. Holmes McGuire, 
U. L. Boyce,~HrcrBriggsrW. W. Arnett, Hugh H. McCormick, Ed- 
ward O'Brien, J. H. Shields, Edward White, H. H. Harrison, George 
B. Harrison, Samuel McCormick, S. Schollay Moore, E. H. Lee, Car- 
ter M. Louthan, William E. Alexander, B. C. Taylor, William F. 
Kerfoot, William C. Morgan, William F. Eandolph, Charles E. Lee. 

Present members of Berryville bar: S. J. C. Moore, A. W. Mc- 
Donald, A. Moore, Jr., Marshall McCormick, Conrad Kownslar, John 
Y. Page, Charles M. Brown, George G. Calmes. 

Millioood. — This village is the result of a nucleus formed far back 
in colonial times. Daniel Morgan resided not far off at " Saratoga," 
mention of which has been made several times heretofore in this work. 
A mill was established here as early as, possibly, 1760, and it was 
known as Burwell's Mill at a very early day. Tradition in Clarke 
says the present mill, or a portion of it, was built by Gen. Morgan 



504 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

himself, but the truth of it is scarcely susceptible of proof at this day. 
There was a mill on the site of the present one before Morgan was 
able to own one, but whether that portion now remaining was the 
original structure, or one built by the " Old Wagoner " afterward, is 
difficult now to determine. 

There is a very neat Episcopal Church, in Millwood, and Rev. C. 
B. Bryan is rector thereof ; also a Methodist Episcopal Church South, 
with Eev. Mr. Wolfe as pastor. The Baptists have a church and 
small congregation, but no pastor at present. The colored people 
have two congregations, both Baptist, and only one building. 

A fine school in charge of the Misses Page and known as the 
Brexton Female Seminary flourishes in Millwood. A lodge of Masons 
and one of Good Templars are in existence at this village, also. 

White Post obtained its unique title through the fact that Lord 
Fairfax erected here a post and painted it white, upon which were in- 
scriptions informing the traveler the direction in which lay Greenway 
Court and the distance to that seat of colonial royalty. There is an 
Episcopal Church here at White Post, but no regular pastor. Also a 
Methodist Episcopal Church, which is supplied by visiting ministers. 

Boyce is quite a thriving village, and is growing more rapidly 
than any town in the county. It is at the crossing of the Shenandoah 
Valley Railroad and the Millwood Turnpike from Winchester. Sev- 
eral fine businesses are conducted here, and church and school facil- 
ities are increasing. 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 505 



CHAPTER XXV. 
THE GKEAT CIVIL WAE OF 1861-65. 

The Underlying Causes of the Conflict — Early Anti-Slavery Senti- 
ment AND Action — The South on the Defensive — Culmination of 
Northern Encroachments — Election of a Sectional President- 
Proclamation OF Emancipation — Acts of Self-Protection — Nothing 
Left but to Separate— Prompt Secession of South Carolina— Vir- 
ginia Follows Her Sister States— Preparations for War — The 
Valley to the Front— Occupation of Harper's Ferry— Col. 
Thomas J. Jackson— Appearance of the Immortal "Stonewall"— 
Estimate of His Peculiar Strength— Gen. Johnston in Command- 
Advance OF the Federal Army — Stonewall Brigade — Intense 
War Feeling — The Women of the Valley — Stuart, the "Yellow 
Jacket"— A True Cavalier— Operations Around Martinsburg— 
Removal of the Engines — Fight at Falling Waters— At Winches- 
ter—Johnston's Brilliant Movement— Four Brave Valley Boys 
Go TO Their Death— Stonewall Jackson's Fearful March to Rom- 
ney— Accurate Origin of the Sobriquet " Stonew^all." 

^HHE underlying causes of the great conflict between the Southern, 
_ or slave-holding States, and the Northern, or non-slaveholding 
States, known as the great Civil war of 1861 to 1865, is so little 
understood by the younger generation, and so misapprehended or mis- 
construed by older and interested or prejudiced persons, that an 
analysis of the events leading up to the disastrous struggle are 
entirely in place as a prelude to the recital of the stirring militaiy 
movements that occurred during the four memorable years of warfare 
in the Lower Valley of the Shenandoah. The entire solution of th*^ 
matter might be summed up in a very few words, as, for instance: 
" The predominant anti-slavery sentiment in the North was increasing 
so rapidly that the institution of slavery was no longer safe within 
the Union." But the evidence of such a state of affairs is what the 
writer would produce and wish to emphasize. 

The anti-slavery sentiment or spirit of intermeddling with the 
peculiar institution of the South is as old as the government of the 
United States itself, and, in fact, antedates the Constitution, as will be 
shown by newspaper evidence. The Alexandria Adveiiiser, published 
by George Richards & Co., of March 30, 1786, contains an article of 



506 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

over three columns in length, entitled " A Caution io all Travelers io 
Philadelphia from the Southern States,'''' addressed to the editor of 
the paper and signed " Philip Dalbj." The article relates how a 
negro boy belonging to the writer and accompanying him as his body- 
servant, was enticed and forced away from him by a set of men who 
made it their business to watch for and take advantage of any oppor- 
tunity to set free the slaves of any Southern persons who might pass 
through or sojourn in Philadelphia, and- the great difficulty he 
encountered and the expense he sustained in getting possession of his 
property. The judges, the writer said, as well as others, seemed to 
throw all obstacles in his way. 

Although this feeling of a portion of the North kept growing, it 
did not take active shape until many years after the beginning of the 
present century. At first the South paid but little attention to the 
sentiment that was slowly but surely undermining the foundations of 
a very important portion of its social fabric, but the matter finally 
became so threatening in the utterances of the Abolitionist press, 
preachers and orators, that restrictive laws had to be passed in the 
Southern States, and the highest court of the land appealed to in 
defense of those rights which had been accorded to each sovereign 
State when they entered into a compact for the general weal. 

That the Abolitionists were for the most part actuated by the 
purest of motives goes without saying. They advocated what they 
believed to be the "higher law" of humanity rather than constitu- 
tional law, while Southern leaders, on the other hand, were strict con- 
structionists of the constitution. An honest difference of opinion 
existed between the masses North and South, which only a more inti- 
mate acquaintance could have prevented. The Southerners had 
always been distinguished for their patriotism, and in the wars of the 
Eevolution, of 1812 and with Mexico, they had done their full share 
of the fighting. Ever ready to make almost any sacrifice for the pres- 
ervation of the Union, they submitted to the oppressions of a pro- 
tective tariff, and yielded up the right of settlement with their prop- 
erty to that vast portion of the public domain north of 36° 30'. But 
the opposition to slavery continued to increase until it became a revo- 
lution, of which the Civil war was but an incident and natural conse- 
quence. 

Emissaries were sent into the Southern States to spread discontent 
among the negroes; books were written depicting the very worst and 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 509 

exceptional phases of slavery, without a word of the good, known to 
all Southerners; "underground railroads" were established in all 
the border counties of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana for running off 
negroes; personal liberty bills were passed ; decisions of the Supreme 
Court were derided and set at naught, and the constitution was 
denounced as " a covenant with hell," The Republican became the 
dominant party of the country, and the Abolition wing of that party 
had grown to be its controlling spirit. 

The people of the South viewed with alarm the rapid growth of 
the anti-slavery sentiment prior to and during the canvass of 1860, 
and were made to feel the full force of what Abraham Lincoln had 
said, that the Union could not exist " part slave and part free." Offers 
to compromise were rejected by the Kepublicans, and it became evi- 
dent to observing minds that unless the South took immediate action 
the control of their slave property must soon pass out of their hands. 
Its value in round numbers was $3,000,000,000. Its loss meant wide- 
spread financial ruin. What else the liberation of 5,000,000 ignorant 
blacks portended, none could tell. The horrors of a St. Domingo 
revolution might be re-enacted on a vastly extended scale. Their 
forefathers of 1776 had declared their independence of Great Britain 
for a much less cause of complaint, and had established a separate 
government. The Southern people were reluctant to sever their con- 
nection with a government they had done so much to uphold and 
defend, but it was the only chance left them. They would have to 
contend against fearful odds, yet they hoped for success. Their 
homes, property, institutions and liberties were all at stake. How 
well they defended them is attested by the fact that the total number 
of Confederates engaged was 800,000, against 2,600,000 Federals. 
The difference in equipments was nearly as great. . The Confederates 
were for the most part indifferently armed, clad and provisioned, 
while the Federal troops were provided with every appliance that 
modern art and science had produced, and the best supplies that 
unlimited resources could furnish. 

Mr. Lincoln, who was a far-seeing politician and statesman, did 
not, when he first became President, attempt to interfere with the 
institution of slavery in the States where it then existed. But nearly 
two years afterward, when the revolution against it had fully ripened, 
he issued his proclamation of emancipation, on the ground that it was 
a military necessity. The military necessity for the proclamation 



510 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

never existed, but the excuse helped to allay the apprehensions of 
those conservatives at the North who still clung to the belief that the 
war was waged solely for the preservation of the Union, and but little 
opposition was finally manifested. The prophecies of the southern 
leaders, however, had proved true, and no restitution was made, even 
to Union men, for the immense losses thus forced upon them. 

After four years of sanguinary conflict the Confederates were 
forced to yield to the overwhelming odds against them. France had 
come to the relief of their forefathers in the days of the American 
Revolution, but there was no intervention in behalf of the South. 
The civilization of the age was averse to negro slavery, and it had 
to go. 

Unfortunately for the Southern people their troubles were not yet 
ended. Passions had been engendered by the war, which found 
expression at the North, resulting in legislation most injurious to 
Southern interests, and far-reaching in its effects. But in spite of the 
impoverishment caused by emancipation, the war, reconstruction and 
hostile legislation, the South is beginning again to enjoy a fair degree 
of prosperity. 

Now that the ordeal is passed, the number of former slave-holders 
who would like to see the institution of slavery revived is few indeed. 
The terms of the surrender were accepted by the Confederates in good 
faith, and in no part of the country have the people been more true to 
the Union since that time than in the Southern States. The chief 
remaining obstacles in the way of their prosperity and a more perfect 
union are, the burning desire for pensions and the unreasoning 
prejudice on the part of their late antagonists. When these shall 
yield to the sway of a broader patriotism, extravagant pension legis- 
lation will cease. Southern statesmen will be as available for the presi- 
dency as Northern, and the two sections, joined in fraternal union, will 
vie with each other in contributing to the welfare, honor and glory of 
the Great Republic. 

The ordinance of secession was passed by Virginia April 17, 1861, 
and her first concern was to select a commander for the thousands of 
troops ready to spring to arms at her behest. The young men of the 
Valley, a region noted for its soldiers in every war from tlie founda- 
tion of the government, and even in colonial times, were eager to march 
under the standard of their proud old commonwealth. Lieut. -Col. R. 
E. Lee, known as a gallant and skillful soldier of the United States 



THE CIVIL WAR PEEIOD. • 511 

army, had resigned his commission in tlie Federal service, and ten- 
dered his sword to his native State. Gov. Letcher appointed him a 
major-general in command of all the State troops, but upon the accept- 
ance of Virginia as one of the Confederate States, he was transferred 
to that service with the rank of brigadier-general, Beauregard and 
Johnston at that time being the ideal soldiers of the South, and at the 
head of all the Confederate forces. The Federal government had 
already inaugurated hostilities by sending an armed fleet to Charleston 
Harbor. 

The first physical signs of actual war in the Lower Valley were the 
mustering of the volunteer companies of the different counties, and 
their march to Harper's Ferry. At the time of the passage of the 
ordinance by Virginia, Lieut. Jones, of the United States Army, was 
stationed at the Ferry, and had been there with a company of the Forty- 
second Infantry since the John Brown affair. When Jones heard of the 
approach of the Southern troops, he made preparations for departure 
and the destruction of the United States property under his charge, 
having been instructed so to act from Washington. The armory and 
arsenal at Harper's Ferry contained about 10,000 muskets and 5,000 
rifles, with machinery for the purpose of manufacturing arms, capable 
with a sufficient force of workmen of turning out 25,000 muskets a 
year. As the Southern volunteers approached, Lieut, Jones requested 
a parley, which was granted, but in a short time flames were seen to 
burst from the armory and arsenal. The Federal garrison had set fire 
to the arms and buildings, and had escaped across the bridge into 
Maryland. The Virginia troops instantly rushed into the buildings, 
and, with the assistance of the citizens and workmen, succeeded in 
saving a great deal of property. A large number of the arms were 
consumed, but about 5,000 improved muskets in complete order and 
3,000 unfinished small arms were saved. The retreating garrison had 
laid trains to blow up the workshops, but the rapid movements of the 
Virginians extinguished them before they reached the buildings, and 
thus saved the valuable machinery for producing arms. The arsenal, 
however, was entirely consumed. The machinery was moved south- 
ward and did good service at Fayetteville, N. C. 

On May 3, 1861, Thomas J. Jackson, afterward the immortal 
"Stonewall" Jackson, took command of the forces at Harper's Ferry, 
and proceeded to organize the raw material there collected into an 
army, which he did, and with such effect that the brigade he after- 



512 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

ward commanded, formed from that inexperienced collection of men of 
all occupations, is famous to this day throughout the length and 
breadth of the land of the South, and respected by all their honorable 
foes in the North as well — "Stonewall Jackson's Brigade." The ap- 
pearance at this time of the now famous leader, described by a South- 
ern novelist, so accords with the writer's recollections of him, that it is 
reproduced here: "The queer apparition of the ex-professor on the 
field excited great merriment. The new colonel Avas not at all like a 
commanding officer. There was a painful want in him of all the 'pride, 
pomp and circumstance of glorious war.' His dress was no better 
than a private soldier's, and there was not a particle of gold lace 
about his uniform. His air was abstracted; his bearing stiff and 
awkward; he kept his own counsels; never consulted with his officers, 
and had very little to say to anybody. On horseback his appearance 
was even less impressive. Other officers, at that early stage of the 
war, when the fondness for military insignia and display was greater 
than afterward, when the blockade had cut off the supply of gewgaws 
and decorations, made their appearance before their troops on prancing 
horses, with splendid trappings, and seemed desirous of showing the 
admiring spectators how gracefully they could sit in the saddle. The 
new colonel was a strong contrast to this. He rode an old horse, who 
seemed to have little of the romance of war about him, and nothing at 
all fine in his equipment. His seat in the saddle was far from grace- 
ful ; he leaned forward awkwardly ; settled his chin from time to time 
in his lofty military stock, and looked from side to side, from beneath 
the low rim of his cadet cap, in a manner which the risible faculties 
could not resist; a queer figure, devoid of all military grace." 

Another estimate of Jackson was given by one of his staff' officers: 
" When we were ordered up the Valley with old Jackson, it was con- 
sidered to be a source of congratulation to all for going into active 
service; but, believe me, I would have willingly gone back into win- 
ter quarters again after a week's trial, for Jackson is the greatest 
marcher in the world. When we first moved up here, our orders were 
for a march to Charlestown; next day we were moved back to Win- 
chester; in a few days back to Charlestown; and thence, from one 
place to another, until at last I began to imagine that we Avere com- 
manded by some peripatetic philosophical madman, whose forte was 
pedestrianism. With little or no luggage, we are a roving, hungry, 
hardy lot of fellows: 'Stonewall' may be a very fine old gentleman, 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 513 

and an honest, good-tempered, industrious man, but I should admire 
him more in a state of rest than continually seeing him moving in 
front. And such a dry old stick, too! As for uniform he has none — 
his wardrobe isn't worth a dollar, and his horse is quite in keeping, 
a poor, lean animal, of little spirit or activity. And don't he keep his 
aides moving about! Thirty miles' ride at night through the mud is 
nothing of a job; and if they don't come up to time, I'd as soon face 
the devil, for Jackson takes no excuses when duty is at hand. He is 
solemn and thoughtful, speaks but little, and always in a calm, decided 
tone; and from what he says there is no appeal, for he seems to know 
every hole and corner of this valley as if he had made it, or at least, 
as if it had been designed for his own use. He knows all the dis- 
tances, all the roads, even the cow-paths through the woods, it seems. 
I have seen him approach in the dead of night and enter into conver- 
sation with sentinels, and ride off through the darkness. In my opin- 
ion, Jackson will make his mark in this war; his eternal watchfulness 
must tell on his uninformed enemy." 

On the 23d of May Gen. Joseph E. Johnston assumed command of 
the Army of the Shenandoah, the force collected at Harper's Ferry and 
along the Potomac, and after a thorough reconnoissance, decided that 
the Ferry was untenable, and, therefore, determined to withdraw from 
that locality and plant his army at "Winchester. At this time Gen. 
Patterson was advancing with a strong force down through Pennsyl- 
vania to Hagerstown, Md., with the avowed purpose, as one of his staff 
officers informed the writer, of marching straight southward to Mont- 
gomery, Ala., and planting on the Confederate capitol a silken banner 
presented to him by some fair Philadelphian. (Alas! alas! how each 
section underrated the strength of the other!) 

When Jackson was superseded in the command at Harper's Ferry 
by Gen. Johnston, he was placed in command of the First Brigade, 
composed of the Second Virginia, Col. Allen ; Fourth Virginia, Col. 
Preston ; Fifth Virginia, Col. Harper; Twenty-seventh Virginia, Lieut. - 
Col. Echols; and to which was afterward added the Thirty-third Vir- 
ginia, Col. Cumming. This brigade was composed of the flower of 
Virginia's young men, and the Second Regiment was raised in the four 
counties of Frederick, Clarke, Jefferson and Berkeley. In these four 
counties, true to their ancient record, there was scarcely a youth of 
fifteen years who was not at the front, unless restrained by vigorous 
parental authority. If the boys could not get accepted as soldiers, 



514 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

they would get on their horses and ride around after the army, hope- 
fully awaiting some opportunity for them to join their brothers and 
fathers in the glorious cause, as it was deemed by all true Southerners. 
The martial spirit pervaded all classes of persons, and even the ne- 
groes were eager to go off with their young masters and suffer the 
hardships of camp life, as thousands of them did, and many of whom 
were still among the boys in gray when "Massa Robert," as they 
called Gen. Lee, sorrowfully, yet manfully, laid down his sword at Ap- 
pomattox. And as for the women of the Valley, no pen can describe, 
no tongue can tell the fervor of their patriotism in the common cause. 
The woman who could see her husband, or the mother her son, going 
about business matters, or dawdling in citizen's attire, while the manly 
fellows were parading with musket in hand, or dashing along with rat- 
tling sabre by his side, was ready to hang her head in shame; whilst 
the young ladies paid more homage, gave more attention to, and would 
rather be seen walking with, the raggedest private in gray than the 
most fashionably-dressed young gentleman that a tailor could turnout. 
It was this feeling, in large measure, that gave such ekm to the aver- 
age Southern soldier. He had his good name to protect, and except 
in extremely rare cases, the young Virginian would rather have been 
brought back to his mother in honorable death than to have disgraced 
his uniform in the slightest degree. Thousands of the young men, 
almost every single Virginian young man, had been riding horseback 
from earliest boyhood, and he was therefore a natural cavalryman. 

AVitli this force, then, Jackson was sent to the neighborhood of 
Martinsburg to support Stuart's cavalry, who were picketing the Po- 
tomac from the Point of Rocks, east of the Blue Ridge, to the western 
border of Berkeley County. Col. J. E, B. Stuart, educated at West 
Point, and a lieutenant stationed on the frontier of the Western States, 
was styled by Gen. Johnston "the indefatigable Stuart," and his record 
afterward during the war justified the early estimate of that gallant 
and skillful cavalry fighter. He was bold and ardent, and possessed 
physical qualities that made his endurance the wonder and admiration 
of all who came in contact with him. His animal spirits were supera- 
bundant, and it seemed as though he must be always in action. A 
song was always on his lips, and if he were not humming some love 
ditty he was whistling a martial air. To see that splendid soldier, 
with a seat in the saddle like a centaur, head erect, a smile 
on his face, and a word of cheer for the most inconsequential of his 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 515 

"roiigli riders," was a picture not to be forgotten. He was dubbed 
by a prominent general " yellow jacket" — a species of wild bee so well 
and forcibly known to all Southern boys, in consequence of the per- 
sistent " staying " qualities of the little fighter, for " he is no sooner 
brushed off than he lights back again." Stuart, with only 300 men, 
held the river-front for months between the points indicated above — 
Point of Rocks, and the western portion of Berkeley, Before leaving 
Harpers' Ferry, Gen. Johnston had blown up the bridge across the 
Potomac at that point; had destroyed the rifle works and other gov- 
ernment property ; and shortly afterward had burned the bridge across 
the Shenandoah. At Martinsburg the Confederate forces were ordered 
to destroy all property that might be useful to the enemy, and the 
handsome railroad bridge known as the " collonade bridge " was 
blown up. It was a beautiful structure and never replaced as it orig- 
inally was. Thirty-five locomotives were destroyed. They were 
filled with coal and the whistles opened, and there was a grand cal- 
liope concert for a day or two. Powder was also used upon the loco- 
motives in the attempt to destroy them, until the idea dawned upon 
the Confederates that it would be a good thing to take them south. 
But in a moment of thoughtlessness the bridge over the Opequon had 
been destroyed, and so they could not be conveyed by rail any dis- 
tance. Col. Thomas S. Sharp is said to have first suggested placing 
broad tires on the wheels of the locomotives and hauling them up the 
Valley turnpike. Thirty-two horses were required to drag from the 
tracks each of the locomotives, up to the southern end of Martinsburg, 
but the feat was accomplished, and twenty ponderous iron -horses were 
conveyed to Staunton and used throughout the South. A most re- 
markable portion of the history of those locomotives is that every one 
of them, with one exception, was recovered after the close of the war 
by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and the man who engineered the 
conveyance of them southward, Col. Sharp, was made master of trans- 
portation of the same road, in consequence partly, it is asserted, of his 
skill in carrying them off in 1861. All the machinery that was car- 
ried off was also recovered. Three hundred freight and a numl)er of 
passenger cars and other railroad property that could not easily be 
transported were destroyed. 

On the 2d of July, Patterson succeeded in crossing the Potomac at 
Williamsport, Md., his troops fording the river, which was about 
waist deep. Jackson was encamped near the village of Hainesville, 



516 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

on the road to Falling Waters and Williamsport, Stuart's headquar- 
ters being a little in advance of that point. The Federals, or at least 
a detachment, came forward toward the Confederates, and Jackson was 
encountered in a position where he had formed his men in line of bat- 
tle, with four guns directly on the turnpike along which the enemy 
was advancing. In this first engagement in the Valley, Jackson had 
under him about 380 men and Pendleton's battery of four guns — six- 
pounders. His object was not to fight a battle, but to feel the enemy, 
strike a telling blow, and ascertain what was best to do. Patterson's 
advancing force, according to Federal authorities, consisted of the 
brigades of Abercrombie, Negley and Thomas, with several batteries 
of artillery, and 500 cavalry. For nearly an hour Jackson succeeded 
with his small force in maintaining his position, but at last was com- 
pelled slowly to fall back, and finally retire, with the loss of only one 
man killed and a few wounded. The loss of the enemy was said to 
have been about the same. This first collision of the Valley forces 
was of no value to either contestant in any sense, save of its worth 
as an example to the men under Jackson of the soldierly qualities of 
that great leader. The reputation it gave him and the confidence im- 
parted followed him till his mournful death. A small regiment and 
four field-pieces to hold in check and deceive a general with thousands 
of well- equipped soldiers at his command, might be termed, as a writer 
expressed the fact at the time, " a magnificent initiatory." Jackson 
had met the enemy with the skill of a trained soldier, which impressed 
his enemy with the idea that he must move cautiously against the ex- 
professor of Lexington, and the dash of the young Indian-fighter, 
Stuart. It was told by one of Jackson's men, shortly after the occur- 
rence, how their general, while writing a despatch under a tree, had not 
moved a muscle or shown any knowledge of the incident, when a stray 
cannon-shot had struck above his head. Jackson having rejoined the 
main army at Winchester, under Johnston, Patterson fell back again 
toward the Potomac, a very transparent feint to draw his antagonist 
after him, and so, away from the great event that both knew to be 
immiuent across the ridge. But the Federal commander advanced 
again to Martinsburg, and thence toward Winchester. His force, ac- 
cording to the best information, was about 30,000 men, while John- 
ston's had been increased by the arrival of eight additional regiments 
from the South, The design of Patterson was to hold Johnston in 
check, while McDowell, with his army of 55,000 men, advanced to 
crush Beauregard at Manassas. 



THE CIVIL WAE PERIOD. 517 

It was now the IStli of July; the Federal columns were in motion 
from Washington, and in three days would be in front of Bull Eun. 
Gen. Patterson accordingly moved from MartinsTburg — Stuart retiring 
with his cavalry before him — and on the 16th was in position at Bun- 
ker Hill. The critical moment had arrived ; every hour counted. On 
the 17th Gen. Patterson knew, by telegraph, that the " Grand Army " 
was at Fairfax Courthouse, within a few hours' march of Beauregard's 
position ; and a further movement was promptly made to hold John- 
ston in the Valley. Patterson swung his left wing round to the vil- 
lage of Smithfield, in the direction of Berryville, and in this position 
awaited any movement of Johnston, with the evident design of hold- 
ing him in check, or attacking him in flank if he endeavored to march 
to the assistance of Beauregard by the route of Ashby's Gap. At one 
o'clock in the morning, on the IStli of July, the Federal army had 
driven in the Confederate advance force at Manassas, and a telegraphic 
dispatch from the government at Richmond announced the critical 
state of affairs to Johnston. He was directed, if practicable, to send 
to Culpepper Courthouse his sick, evacuate Winchester, and hasten to 
the assistance of Beauregard. The good judgment shown by Gen. 
Johnston in the evacuation of Harper's Ferry now became apparent. 
The road to Manassas was unobstructed. To go to the assistance of 
the Army of the Potomac, it was necessary either to defeat Patterson 
or to elude him. The latter course was chosen as the most speedy and 
certain, and preparations were immediately made to commence the 
movement. The number of the sick, about 1,700, rendered it impos- 
sible on short notice to remove them, and they were left at Winches- 
ter; and the defense of that point, where some earthworks were 
thrown up, and a few guns mounted, was entrusted to the militia of 
the region under Gens. Carson and Meem. Stuart posted a cordon of 
cavalry pickets from the neighborhood of Smithfield, along by Summit 
Point and Ripon to the Shenandoah, completely cutting off all commu- 
nication and concealing every movement. Having thus guarded 
against every contingency in the best possible manner, Johnston left 
Winchester behind him, and commenced his march by way of Ashby's 
Gap toward the east. 

In the battle of Manassas the Valley lost some of her best and 
bravest sons. The pomp and glory of war, so fascinating to the high- 
spirited men of Virginia and the South generally, had now become a 
reality in all the horrors of wounds and death. With what anguish 



518 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

the fond mothers of favorite sons, with what fear and trembling the 
aged father, the anxious and losing sister, the devoted wife, the family 
of beautiful children, looked for the "news of the battle." And what 
scenes of desolation were to be found in hundreds of homes! One of 
these — the saddest of all sad tales after that first sanguinary contest — 
was one at Martinsburg, when the two brothers, splendid men, in the 
prime of young manhood, Holmes A. and Tucker Conrad, were laid, 
cold and silent in death, in their father's house, ripe harvest of tlie 
bloody field of Manassas; and their cousin, Peyton R. Harrison, 
also killed, and the fourth one, John Fryatt! The four brave and 
gallant fellows, in station in their lives perhaps different, but now, 
dead for a common cause, all equally mourned and honored! 

Jackson had been made a major-general in September, and in the 
early part of October he was assigned to the command of the Confed- 
erate forces in and around Winchester. The Confederates also held 
the whole of the northern boundary of Virginia to the Alleghany 
Mountains. That famous cavalry leader. Col. Turner Ashby, with his 
own regiment and other cavalry detachments, making a total of some 
1,200 men, well mounted, Avas watching the river front from Harper's 
Ferry to Romney. In December the enemy were strongly posted at 
Komney and Bath, southward ; and Banks, with his whole army, being 
just north of the Potomac, it was evident that some great movement 
was in contemplation, which prudence demanded should be watched 
by a strong force. A large part of Gen. Loring's command, after a 
march of 250 miles, joined Gen. Jackson at Winchester, who was now 
at the head of about 9,000 men. On January 1, 1862, with a portion 
of this force, he marched from Winchester. It was Jackson's object 
to surprise the Federals at Bath (Berkeley Springs). Amid the 
snow, sleet, rain and ice of the most severe days of that severe winter, 
he commenced his march. He had to travel over fifty miles of the 
roughest country in the world — over mountains and through raging 
torrents — being obliged to take unfrequented roads to keep his move- 
ment secret. Penetrating mountains on roads winding along their 
sides, and through their rugged defiles, exposed to sleet and hail in 
mid-winter, and enduring the bitterest cold, the march was one of 
almost incredible suffering and horror. The men were without tents, 
and the roads were covered with ice two inches thick, and glazed over 
by the sleet, so that neither man nor horse could keep his feet except 
by great care. Horses had their knees and muzzles terribly injured, 



THE CIYIL WAR PERIOD. 519 

and streamiug with blood. Occasionally horsemen, infantry and 
wagons would slip over an enbankment. Men crippled or filled with 
bruises and pains, laid down by the wayside to die, or staggered on- 
Avard in the terrible march. Many were without boots and hats, and 
in rags. They were not permitted to kindle fires, being within a few 
miles of the enemy's posts, and their most comfortable sleep was under 
arbors of sticks packed with snow. Amid the sharp distresses of this 
march the command struggled on with patient courage and almost 
superhuman spirit. 

On arriving at Bath, Jackson found the Federals had retreated to 
the Potomac, and had waded the river on one of the coldest days of 
the winter, but after resting two or three days, the wily Stonewall* 
made daily demonstrations at the river, to induce the belief that his 
command was the advance of a large force about to cross into Mary- 
land, and it succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations. The 
Federal troops in and around Komney amounted to 11,000 men, under 
command of Gen. Shields. This oflicer felt so certain that Jackson 
was bent on crossing the Potomac, that, though forty miles above, he 
transferred his whole command to the north bank to dispute the sup- 
posed passage. As soon as Jackson was informed of this, he marched 
up the south bank to Eomney, surprised and captured many of the 
enemy, and destroyed what he could not carry away of Shields' im- 
mense stores, amounting to some half a million dollars. Leaving a small 
force in Komney, Jackson returned with his army to Winchester, the 
success of the expedition being entirely complete, but it had been pur- 
chased at a terrible price — hundreds of his brave men had sunk under 
the exposure of the march, and many of them spent weeks in the hos- 
pitals, whilst others carry the effects of that trip to this day. 

In addition to the supplies obtained and the damage done to the 
enemy, Jackson had in view the protection of a large section of coun- 
try. It was necessary, however, to promptly guard against an ad- 
vance of the enemy from Williamsport and Harper's Ferry, and upon 

*For the benefit of tlie youuger readers of this work, as well as a means of preserving the inci- 
dent in the form in whieli it really occurred, which the writer Imows to be correct, the manner of the 
re-baptism of Jackson is here given : At a critical moment during the battle of Manassas, Gen. Bee, 
whose force had been repulsed and were almost disheartened, seeing Jackson sitting on his horse, cahii 
and immovable as a rock, ai^parently, ^1th his men in regidar order, stanch as a wall, rushed up to the 
Virginia commander and exclaimed, "General, they are beating us back ! " "Then, sir," said Jack- 
son, " well give them the bayonet." To Bee the words were as a new inspiration, and he turned to his 
overtasked troops, exclaiming, "There stand Jackson and hi_s Virginians like a stoiie ivall. Let us de- 
termine to die here and we will conquer ! " Poor Bee ! he did not live to witness tlie glory of the hero 
he had so happily re-christened, for he fell, mortally wounded, shortly after he had sent that homely 
word " stonewall " ringing down the ages with a halo about it that makes it almost immortal. 



520 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

his arrival at Winchester he endeavored to connect that place with 
Eomney by telegraph, but the force there under Loring, as well as that 
general himself, became dissatisfied with their isolated and exposed 
position, and obtained an order direct from the Richmond authorities 
to evacuate that section, without consultation with Jackson. This 
piece of injustice toward the great leader so incensed him that he im- 
mediately sent in his resignation, but after urgent requests for him to 
withdraw it, he finally consented to remain where he was. The de- 
parture of the force from Romneyleft open an immense tract of coun- 
try to the enemy. By Jackson's plan the counties of Berkeley, Mor- 
gan, Hardy and Hampshire, as well as Frederick, Clarke and Jefferson, 
would have had some protection. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

OPERATIONS IN THE VALLEY DURING 1862. 

Banks Crosses the Potomac— Jackson Offers Battle, but is Ordered 
Back— Strategic Movements— Shields in Command — Battle of Kerns- 
town — A Bloody, but Inconsequential Affair— Jackson Retreats 
WITH a Small Loss— A Wounded Wolf— Stonewall's Wonderful 
Strategy— The Fight at McDowell— "Bank's Races"— 'V Disgrace- 
ful Stampede of the Federal Forces— Marylander vs. Mary 
lander— " Jackson's Commissary," Gen. Banks— Port Republic and 
Cross Keys— Death of Gen. Turner Asiiby— His Gallantry. Court- 
liness and Humanity— Close of the Valley Campaign of 1862— Jack- 
son's Investment of Harper's Ferry— Surrender of the Federal 
Forces — Immense Stores Captured— Stonewall Jackson, a Hero in 
THE Eyes of Federal as well as Confederate Soldiers— The San- 
guinary Encounter at the Old Packhorse Ford— The Potomac Runs 
Red with Blood— Closing Scenes of 1862. 

STILL greater events, however, than those related in the preceding 
chapter, were awaiting the opening of spring. On February 26? 
Gen. N. P. Banks crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, with a force 
numbering about 30,000 men, and the same evening the Federal cav- 
alry occupied Charlestown. Gen. Lander was moving from above 
(eastward through western Virginia), with about 10,000 men, wdiich 
two columns were now about to confront Jackson with his 4,000 troops of 
all arms. They were good men, however, and would go or stay with their 



THE CIVIL WAK P:?RIOD. 521 

general, no matter what the circumstances might be. Reinforcements 
were expected from the Upper Valley, and until these arrived, Jackson 
was determined to hold his position at Winchester, but they did not 
arrive, and on March 3, Banks left a portion of his army at Charles- 
town and marched with the main body to Martinsburg. Col. Ashby 
reporting these movements of the enemy, Jackson prepared to give 
him battle. The Confederate force, though small, was made to appear 
as numerous as possible. Ashby kept well in the front, and brought 
tidings of the movement of Banks on March 10. The next day the 
columns at Charlestown and Martinsburg were united at a point a 
short distance south of Bunker Hill. At two o'clock the Confederate 
cavalry was driven in, whereupon Jackson threw his whole force in 
the direction of the enemy and offered battle, which was not accepted 
by the Federal commander, doubtless supposing the Confederates were 
far more numerous than they were. Jackson occupied his position in 
advance of Winchester, but he shortly received orders from Richmond 
to fall back up the valley, which was an extreme disappointment to 
him. The retreat was sullen and deliberate, but at Mount Jackson 
the weary soldiers went into camp. The Federal forces were now in 
possession of the entire region around Winchester, where Banks now 
massed his troops. He sent a considerable portion toward Fredericks- 
burg, and turning over the command to Gen. Shields, repaired to 
Washington. 

After several days of inactivity on the part of Jackson's force lying 
between Mount Jackson and New Market, the restless general received 
intelligence from Ashby that the enemy's troops had evacuated the 
town of Strasburg and fallen back in the direction of Winchester. 
Shields had been left in command with about 11,000 troops, and, 
according to that general's report, 7,000. Ascertaining that Jackson 
was at New Market, the Federal general made a feint of leaving Win- 
chester, and pretended to retreat on the night of the 20th of March, 
placing his force in a secluded position two miles northward of his 
position on the Martinsburg turnpike. This movement was the cause 
of great joy on the part of the Winchester people, who viewed with 
satisfaction the small force left by Shields, deeming it certain that 
they would soon be gobbled up by Jackson or Ashby. The design of 
Shields was to draw Jackson down the Valley, and thereby throw him 
off the track of the force that had gone across to Centreville, and 
keeping him away from the assistance of Gen. Johnston. In response 



522 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

to the reports of the small force at Winchester, Jackson broke up 
camp at Mount Jackson at dawn of the 22d and marched twenty-six 
miles that day, bivouacking at Cedar Creek at night. The next day 
Jackson had moved his line to. the vicinity of Kernstown, prepared to 
give battle and expecting a small force to contend with, as scouts had 
reported very few of Shield's original force within fighting distance. 
Jackson had, according to his official report, 2,742 men. It is inter- 
esting to the old Southern soldiers who know an;fthing of what is 
termed " the first Kernstown," to find Gen. Shields reporting to 
headquarters that " Stonewall Jackson had in the engagement 11,000 
men." If he had had half that number. Shields would not have had 
much of an army, if any, left to be whipped farther up the Valley 
shortly afterward. It was reported that Gen. Williams with 15,000 
men was moving through Snicker's Gap to operate against Johnston. 
Jackson saw that if this intelligence was reliable, an opportunity pre- 
sented itself to gain all his lost ground, and strike a heavy blow at the 
entire plan of the enemy. With his small force he thought he was 
able to crush the four regiments said to be at Winchester, and the 
sudden attack in the rear would have the effect of retaining Gen, 
Williams in the Valley. 

About 4 o'clock in the afternoon Ashby's guns announced the 
opening of the fight, and it only terminated when night closed in upon 
the bloody scene. Where the battle was fought, was not far from the 
Little North Mountain. The country is undulating and open. The 
fields are large and gently rolling, divided by rail or stone fences. A 
portion of the ground was plowed at the time. The lines were very 
close, owing to the peculiar lay of the country, and were almost with- 
in a stone's throw of each other. After the battle had raged some 
time, the left flank of Jackson's force, commanded by Gen, Garnett, 
was turned, and forced back upon the center, but only after a most 
desperate and bloody encounter, A long stone fence ran across an 
'open field, which the enemy were endeavoring to reach. Federals and 
Confederates were both in motion for this natural breast-work, when 
the Twenty -fourth Virginia ran rapidly forward, arrived at the fence 
first, and poured a volley into the enemy at ten paces distant; but the 
overwhelming numbers of Shield's force soon swept over the fence, 
and drove the Confederate left into the woods, taking two guns and a 
number of prisoners. During the night. Gen. Jackson decided to fall 
back to Cedar Creek. The enemy pursued the next day, but Ashby's 



THE CIVIL WAR PEEIOD. 523 

cavalry, the terror of the Federal soldiery, covered the retreat. In 
his report, Geu. Shields wrote that the retreat " became flight," but in 
a private letter to a friend in Washington, he had previously written 
of the Confederates: "Such were their gallantry and high state of 
discipline that at no time during the battle, or pursuit, did they 
give way to panic." The Confederate loss in killed, wounded and 
prisoners is carefully estimated to have been 465. Gen. Shields 
stated his loss at 103 killed and 441 wounded. It had been a fierce 
and frightful engagement, for Jackson had lost nearly 20 per cent of 
his force in a very few hours' conflict. Jackson always believed that 
if he had held his ground ten minutes longer, the enemy would have 
retreated. However that may have been, one of the effects designed 
by the Confederate general was accomplished. Gen. Williams and his 
15,000 men, on their way "across the ridge," suddenly wheeled 
about and rejoined Shields. When the poorly-clothed Confederate 
prisoners were led through Winchester, their march was more one of 
triumph than anything else, for the ladies of that town fairly showered 
kindness upon the boys in gray, whilst looks of scorn for the gaily 
dressed Federal officers and soldiers fairly flashed from the hundreds 
of glowing eyes, as their owners waved their 'kerchiefs and kissed 
their fair hands to their ragged, though gallant defenders. These 
ladies, and everywhere else throughout the South, were loyal to "the 
cause " till the last. 

Jackson slowly retreated after the battle of Kernstown, the enemy 
pursuing him in force and skirmishing incessantly with his rear guard 
under Ashby. That cavalier was untiring in the performance of his 
important duty, and the roar of his artillery continued throughout the 
day, saluting the ears of the troops as they awoke in the morning or 
laid down in bivouac at night. The men suffered few hardships dur- 
ing the retreat. The weather was growing mild, and delightful with 
the approaching spring, and though, by an order of Jackson, none but 
commanders of brigades were allowed to have tents, the troops did" 
not complain of sleeping in the open air. They kindled their camp- 
fires on the sides of the turnpike, and, lulled by the distant thunder 
of Ashby's artillery, went to sleep as soundly as if they had been at 
home in their beds. " Jackson crept along," as John Esten Cooke 
put it, "like a wounded wolf, turning every moment to snap at his 
pursuers, and offer battle if they pressed him." Reaching the vicin- 
ity of Mount Jackson, he went into the old camps which he had aban- 



524 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

doned to march to Winchester. Banks, who had followed ou the track 
as far as Edinbiirg, seems to have been afraid to attack him, and 
awaited re-enforcements. 

Although the entire campaign of Jackson in the Valley does not 
strictly belong to the historic events of the Lower Valley, yet the 
operations of that commander are so closely connected in their results 
with this section, and so many of her brave sons took part in them, 
that a recital in brief of the greatest achievements of the famous and 
loved StoneAvall Jackson may be included in this work, without their 
being considered irrelevant. It is well known that the remarkable 
campaign of 1862 in the Valley was the conception of Jackson alone. 
It is pronounced by one of the highest military authorities of tlie age 
to be " strategy emanating from a military mind of the very highest 
order." 

Gen. Jackson remained in the Valley when the principal scene of 
the war was transferred from the line of the Potomac, and Ewell's 
division was sent to operate with him in that part of the State. The 
object of this combined force was to divert the army of McDowell at 
Fredericksburg and prevent it from uniting with that of McClellan. 
General directions to this end were promulgated by the Kichmond 
authorities, but the manner of its accomplishment was left to the general 
in command of the Valley forces. How effectually he did it, is a matter of 
history, and will be presently shown. The idea originated with the ad- 
venturous commander himself, who communicated it to his superiors, to 
act on the aggressive and essay the extraordinary task of driving the 
Federal forces from the Valley, then already there under the commands 
of Banks, Fremont and Shields. But in order to understand the dis- 
position of all the opposing forces at this time, west of the Blue Ridge, 
it will be necessary to make a brief and rapid resume of the opera- 
tions and movements in that quarter for some weeks previously so as 
to put before the reader a comprehensive and an intelligent situation. 
The disposition of the enemy's forces west of the Blue Ridge was de- 
signed to co-operate with McDowell at Fredericksburg, and included 
the troops of Banks and Shields in the Shenandoah Valley, and those of 
Milroy, Blenker and Fremont in western Virginia. As soon as Jack- 
son had been reinforced by Ewell's division, which crossed the Blue 
Ridge at McGaheysville, the commander, proceeded in person to the 
position of Gen. Edward Johnson's little force, which was drawn up in 
a narrow valley, at a village called McDowell, with the heavy brigades 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 525 

of Milroy and Blenker in line of battle before them. The enemy was 
driven here after a brief engagement. Learning that his success at 
McDowell had so frightened Milroy and Blenker that they had called 
upon Fremont who was a few marches behind, Jackson determined to 
deceive them and fall back. Moving at a fast rate down the Valley 
turnpike, he proceeded to New Market, and was there joined by 
Ewell's force, which had been awaiting him at Swift Run Gap. The 
whole force now amounted to about 14,000, and after a little rest, pro- 
ceeded across the Shenandoah Mountains. 

The forces of the enemy stood as follows: when Shields, who had 
followed Jackson since the battle of Kernstown, found him strongly 
posted at McGaheysville, he declined to advance against him and, 
withdrawing his forces from between Woodstock and Harrisonburg, 
he regained the Valley, determined to push on toward McDowell at 
Fredericksburg. Banks had his force scattered up and down the Val- 
ley, the rear being at Front Royal. Blenker and Milroy Avere also 
heading for the Federal commands over the Blue Ridge, but their de- 
feat had diverted Fremont from his proper route, who immediately 
went to their assistance. Thinking, therefore, that Jackson was busily 
engaged in that distant quarter, and not likely to trouble them in the 
Valley again, Banks and Shields were commencing a movement to- 
ward Fredericksburg, unconscious of danger, when on the morning of 
May 22, Jackson and Ewell, with 14,000 men, were contemplating an 
attack on their rear at Front Royal. 

And an episode now occurs that was one of the most disgraceful 
affairs that ever occurred to an army, and has been known ever since 
as "Bank's Races." Near Front Royal, the rearguard of the Federal 
forces, consisting of the First Maryland Regiment, under the com- 
mand of Col. Kenley, may be said to have been almost annihilated. 
This Maryland regiment was composed of the " roughs " of Baltimore, 
who were supposed to be "terrible in battle;" fellows who would 
fairly revel in gore; chop up their enemies, and make the infernal 
rebels, as they called the boys in gray, howl! But they were the 
veriest cowards in the Federal service. Every man of them was 
killed, wounded or captured, colonel and all, except fifteen. And who 
did it? Why, another regiment from the same proud city, a regiment 
of Baltimore's young men, the flower of the best Maryland stock, 
whose love of the Sunny South had induced them to leave their homes 
of luxury and refinement and cast their fortunes and their lives with 

32 



526 HISTOEY OF THE LOWEE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

their brothers in their struggle for independence and Southern rights. 
The Confederate regiment of Marylanders had requested to be placed in 
position that they might have an opportunity to come in contact with 
the Plug Uglies and Rip Raps of the Monumental City, and when the 
time came, the delicately-raised young soldiers scarcely left a grease- 
spot of the scum, gathered along the wharfs and out of the alleys of 
grand old Baltimore. As Banks' army retreated toward Strasburg, 
nearly 1,000 prisoners were taken, and vast quantities of his stores 
captured or destroyed. At the first shock of the action, the Federal 
commander put in motion his force at Strasburg. He feared that 
Jackson, moving from Front Royal on the converging road to Winches- 
ter, might cut him off from that supposed safe haven, and his fears 
were nearly realized, for at Middletown, Jackson pierced his main col- 
umn, took a number of prisoners, demoralized the retreat, and having 
driven a part of his rear back toward Strasburg, turned hot on the pur- 
suit to Winchester, which it reached on the 24tli of May, and in such 
a condition as to scarcely have a parallel in any time. Frantic with 
fright and thoroughly demoralized, it entered, helter-skelter, the streets 
of the ancient town of Winchester. They were received with shouts 
of derision. Many of the soldiers were on the full run; many fell 
down exhausted, and scarcely a man had a gun who could, by any pos- 
sibility, get rid of it without laying himself liable to punishment. 
Banks' shattered army stood but a few moments before Winchester; 
then broke into one indiscriminate rabble at the first fir© of the distant 
Confederate artillery. He had, evidently, no disposition to test the 
substance and strength of the foe by actual collision, and was only 
desirous to place the Potomac between himself and the terrible en- 
emy, who seemed to his soldiers, by their frantic anxiety to escape, to 
be very incarnate devils with horns and cloven feet. Never was there 
such a shameful flight as there was down the roads leading to Mar- 
tinsburg; such a deliberate abandonment by a commander of every- 
thing but the desire for personal safety. In forty-eight hours after 
he had got the first news of the attack at Front Royal, Banks was on 
the shores of the Potomac, having performed a run of thirty-five miles 
of the distance on the last day of his retreat. 

Into Martinsburg the straggling mob of Federal soldiery rushed. 
Hundreds of wagons, loaded with stores, were scattered along the turn- 
pike. The people were delighted, and could hardly contain their mer- 
riment and joy in the presence of the officers themselves. A windfall, 



THE CIVIL WAK PERIOD. 527 

indeed, it was, for those living along the route o£ the "races;" cloth- 
ing, blankets, canned goods, food of all kinds, and even fine wines and 
liquors were abandoned to the mercy of the pursuing "Johnnies," as 
the Yankees called the Southern soldiers, the term being a contraction, 
or another form, for "Johnny Rebs." The Federal cavalry, instead of 
being in t^^e rear, where they should have been, were far in the ad- 
vance, and reached the Potomac long before the infantry. When 
Banks arrived in Martinsburg he went to a hotel, and looking in a 
mirror, is said to have exclaimed, "Upon my word. General, you are 
the worst used-up man I have seen for a long time." The fruits of 
Jackson's two days' operations were immense. Banks had escaped 
with the loss of all the material and paraphernalia that constitute 
an army. He had abandoned at Winchester, without the shadow of a 
struggle, all his commissary and ordnance stores. He had resigned 
that town and Front Royal to the undisputed possession of the Con- 
federates. He had left in their hands 4,000 prisoners, and stores 
amounting to $1,000,000. He had gained the soubriquet of "Stonewall 
Jackson's Commissary," that clung to him for years afterward. Yet 
he stated in his official report of the affair, and at which Lincoln, 
knowing the facts to be otherwise than given by this Falstaffian com- 
mander, laughed heartily, that "My command had not suffered an 
attack and rout, but accomplished a premeditated march of near sixty 
miles, in the face of the enemy, defeating his plans and giving Lim 
battle wherever he was found." It was a rapid stroke, and splendidly 
successful on the part of Jackson. The victory was announced to the 
Confederate army around Richmond, and Gen. Johnston wrote: "The 
Federal army has been dispersed and ignominiously driven from the 
Valley of the Shenandoah, and those who have freed the loyal citizens 
of that district by their patriotic valor, have again earned, as they will 
receive, the thanks of a grateful country." 

In falling back from Winchester and across the Potomac, Banks 
had managed to garrison with small forces, Charlestown and Harpers' 
Ferry. Jackson, to make the job complete in that direction, proceeded 
to dislodge them, which he did by detaching the Stonewall Brigade 
and two batteries, the whole under Gen. Winder, and despatching them 
to the objective points. The mission was successful, but the Confed- 
erate commander had to watch more important moves of the enemy in 
his rear, or rather on his flanks. Intelligence reached him that Fed- 
eral columns were approaching from the east and west, evidently with 



528 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

the intention of joining forces somewhere in the Upper Valley, and 
thereby prevent Jackson from escaping with his captured stores, 
amounting, according to Federal authorities, to over two millions of 
dollars. Shields was moving from Fredericksburg on his right, and 
Fremont from the south branch of the Potomac on his left, with the 
design of concentrating a heavy force at Strasburg. This junction of 
two heavy forces would have been extremely hazardous to the 15,000 
under Jackson. But the Federal generals were not aware of the re- 
sources of " Stonewall." They little divined his plan of action; they 
did not understand how it was possible for him to elude them, and 
even the authorities at Washington thought they had him in a hole, 
for they directed Gen. McDowell " to put 20,000 men in motion and 
capiure or desiroy Jackson and Ewell." Somewhat of a job, they 
found, for he succeeded, according to his own words, " through the 
blessing of an ever kind Providence," in reaching Strasburg before 
the two Federal columns could effect their contemplated junction in 
his rear. On June 5 he reached Harrisonburg, and passing beyond that 
town, turned toward the east in the direction of Port Republic. It 
was on this movement that the Confederacy lost one of its noblest up- 
holders: a soldier whose fame was as unsullied as it was wide; one of 
those magnificent characters occasionally adorning the historic page, 
whose name was connected with much of the romance of the war, and 
whose gentle enthusiastic courage, simple Christian faith, and royal 
passion for danger, constituted him one of the purest and most beau- 
tiful types of modern chivalry — Gen. Turner Ashby. On the road from 
Harrisonburg to Port Republic, the Fifty-eighth Virginia became en- 
gaged with the Pennsylvania Bucktails. Col. Johnson came up with 
the Maryland regiment, and, by a dashing charge in flank, drove the 
enemy off with heavy loss, Ashby was on the right of the Fifty-eighth 
Virginia, and had just commanded a charge of bayonets upon the 
enemy concealed in a piece of woods, when he fell dead, not many 
yards from a fence where a concealed marksman had sped the fatal 
bullet. The tribute of Gen. Jackson to the fallen hero, whose act- 
ive and daring cavalry had so often co-operated with his arms, was an 
extraordinary one, considering the habitual reticence and lack of com- 
ment on the deeds of men. He wrote of Ashby: "As a partisan 
officer I never knew his superior. His daring was proverbial ; his 
powers of endurance almost incredible; his tone of character heroic; 
and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the purposes and move- 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 529 

ments of the enemy." Ashby was the impersonation of the ideal cav- 
alier, and it is safe to say that every Southern girl or woman loved the 
dashing officer. To see him mounted upon his fine horse, sitting as 
firmly as though a part of the animal, with, his splendid beard stream- 
ing in the wind, and a smile upon his face, was something to be remem- 
bered. He was as courtly in manner as he was gallant in war, and 
an incident that came within the experience of the ladies who informed 
the writer of it, shows his coolness in danger as well as courtesy. In 
a charge he was always at the front, and in a retreat at the rear. 
Whilst falling back with Jackson in 1862, in passing through one of 
the Valley towns, he was, as usual, one of the last to leave. The Federals 
were pressing him through the main street of the town and constantly 
firing at the retreating Confederates. The bullets were coming thick 
and fast, but Ashby rode deliberately along. In a doorway a group 
of young ladies were assembled to wave their handkerchiefs at the 
boys in gray, all unconscious or fearless of their danger, when Ashby 
reining in his horse, lifted his hat and remarked, "Young ladies, do 
me the honor to retire within doors ; you are in great danger of being 
struck by the bullets of the enemy." 

There were now three armies in the field, as stated, and their com- 
bined object was to "bag Jackson," as the Federal authorities ele- 
gantly put it, and following is how they didnH do it: The main body 
of Jackson's command had reached the vicinity of Port Kepublic on 
June 7. The village is situated in the angle formed by the junction 
of the North and South rivers, tributaries of the south fork of the 
Shenandoah. The larger portion of the Confederate forces was en- 
camped on the high ground north of the village, about a mile from 
the river. Gen. Ewell being some foar miles distant, near the road 
leading from Harrisonburg to Port Republic. Gen. Fremont had ar- 
rived with his forces in the vicinity of Harrisonburg, and Gen. Shields 
was moving up to the east side of the south fork of the Shenandoah, 
and was then some fifteen miles below Port Republic. Gen. Jack- 
son's position was about equi-distant from both hostile armies. To 
prevent a junction of the two Federal armies, he had caused the 
bridge over the south fork of the Shenandoah at Conrad's store to be 
destroyed. To give the reader a better idea of the positions of these 
three forces, Jackson's, Fremont's and Shield's, it may be stated thus: 
Jackson, with his forces, was near a river with a bridge in front of him, 
over which he could pass; Fremont was pursuing him, and endeavor- 



530 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

ing to join his forces with Shields, who was fifteen miles away on the 
otlw)- side of the river. Now Jackson desired to fight these forces 
separately. Fremont had seven brigades of infantry, besides numer- 
ous cavalry. Ewell had three small brigades during the greater part 
of the action that was to ensue, and no cavalry at any time. He had 
less than five thousand men. About 10 o'clock the enemy felt along 
his front, posted his artillery, and with two brigades made an attack 
on Trimble's brigade on the right. Gen. Trimble repulsed this force, 
and advancing, drove the enemy more than a mile, and remained on 
his flank ready to make the final attack. At a late hour in the after- 
noon, Gen. Ewell advanced both his wings, drove in the enemy's skir- 
mishers, and when night closed, was in possession of all the ground 
previously held by the enemy. This splendid victory, known as the 
Battle of Cross-Keys, had been purchased at a very small Confederate 
loss, forty-two killed and 287 wounded. Gen. Ewell ofiicially esti- 
mated the enemy's loss at 2,000, but Gen. Fremont, exhibiting the 
usual difference between Federal and Confederate figures, put it at 
625. The importance of this first of the "twin battles," as they were 
termed, however, did not lie in any particular loss of men; the victory 
to Jackson was that it disposed of half his enemy, and gave him an 
opportunity not only to dispose of the other half the following day, as 
will be seen, but opened an unobstructed path to Johnson's forces east 
of the Blue Ridge. 

At the close of Cross-Keys, Jackson prepared to give the final 
blow to Shields on the other side of the river, and the morning after 
that fight Ewell's forces were called to join in the attack at Port Ee- 
public. As day broke, they commenced their march to the other field 
of battle, seven miles distant. The enemy had judiciously selected 
his position for defense. Upon a rising ground near the Lewis House 
he had planted six guns, which commanded the road from Port Repub- 
lic, and swept the plateau for a considerable distance in front. As 
Gen. Winder moved forward his brigade, a rapid and severe fire of 
shell was opened upon it. The artillery fire was well sustained by 
our batteries which, however, proved unequal to that of the enemy. 
In the meantime Winder, being now reinforced by a Louisiana reg- 
iment, seeing no mode of silencing the Federal battery, or escaping 
its destructive missiles but by a rapid charge and the capture of it, 
advanced with great boldness for some distance, but encountered such 
a heavy fire of artillery and small arms as greatly to disorganize his 



\ 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 531 

« 

cemmand, which fell back in disorder. The enemy advanced across 
the field and, by a heavy musketry fire, forced back our infantry sup- 
ports, in consequence of which our guns had to retire. Just at this 
crisis, when the day seemed ]ost, E well's forces appeared upon the 
scene. The Fifty-eighth and Forty-fourth Kegiments, Virginia In- 
fantry, rushed with a shout upon the enemy, took him in flank and 
drove him back for the first time that day in disorder. Meanwhile 
Gen. Taylor was employed on the Federal left and rear, and his attack 
diverting attention from the front led to a concentration of the ene- 
my's force upon him. The battle raged furiously, and although as- 
sailed by superior numbers, in front and flank, with their guns in 
position within point blank range, the charge ordered by Taylor was 
gallantly made, and the enemy's battery, consisting of six guns, fell 
into our hands. Three times was this battery lost and won in the des- 
perate and determined efforts to capture and recover it. At last, 
attacked in front and on flank, Taylor fell back to a skirt of woods. 
Winder, having rallied his command, moved to his support, and again 
opened on the enemy, who were moving upon Taylor's left flank, appar- 
ently to surround him in the woods. The final attack was made. Tay- 
lor, with reinforcements, pushed forward, being assisted by the well- 
directed fire of our artillery, and the enemy fell back; a few moments 
more and he was in precipitate retreat. Four hundred and fifty pris- 
oners were taken in the retreat, and what remained of Shield's artil- 
lery. As Shield's army was in full retreat, Fremont, who had par- 
tially recovered from his drubbing of the day before, appeared on the 
opposite bank of the south fork of the Shenandoah with his army and 
opened his artillery, but it was too late, and the next day, withdrawing 
his forces, he retreated down the valley. On the other hand, Jackson 
quietly retired to the vicinity of Weyer's Cave and went into camp for 
a few days' rest, and to await orders for his movement across the Blue 
Ridge. The first act of the pious old commander, after settling down 
in camp, was to hold divine service. Stonewall never neglected his 
Maker, no matter what the circumstances might be, and he attributed 
all his success in arms to the God of battles, who rules over all. 

The battle of Port Republic closed the campaign of the Valley in 
1862. A writer says of it: "It had been fiercely contested by the 
enemy, and the Confederate loss was quite 1,000 in killed and 
wounded. But the close of the campaign found Jackson crowned with 
an almost marvelous success. In little more than two weeks he had 



532 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

defeated three Federal armies ; swept the Valley of Virginia of hostile 
forces; thrilled Washington with alarm; and thwarted whatever plan 
the enemy might have entertained, in other circumstances, of environ- 
ing Richmond, and to join in the impending contest for the Capitol." 

With the operations of the Confederate armies east of the Blue 
Ridge, this work can have very little to do, as it does not pretend to 
be a detailed history of the Civil war, even of the great struggle iu 
the Shenandoah Valley. Other writers have handled the matter with 
such ability and with such accuracy and analytical power that little is 
left to be said that is new, and especially within the space allotted to 
the subject herein. Yet a few matters outside of the prescribed limits 
must be touched upon in order to a better understanding of others 
more closely connected w^ith the Valley campaigns. Jackson, also, 
was so identij&ed with this region that his entire military history 
seems to be a portion of the events of the Great Valley. Therefore, a 
short recital of the circumstances leading up to one of the most im- 
portant captures of the entire war will be in place. 

After the second Manassas battle, when Pope, notwithstanding his 
promises of a "speedy rooting out of the Rebellion," as he put it, was 
utterly routed and sent in disgraceful confusion to his rear by Gen. 
Robert E. Lee and his victorious army, the change in the fortunes 
of the Confederacy had been rapid, decisive and brilliant. The 
armies of McClellan and Pope had been forced back to the point from 
which they set out on the campaigns of the spring and summer. The 
objects of the Federal authorities had been frustrated, and the northern 
frontier of Virginia was open. Northeastern Virginia had been freed 
from the presence of Federal soldiers up to the very entrenchments- 
around Washington. Lee's army was marching toward Leesburg, 
and information was received that the troops which occupied Win- 
chester had retired to Martinsburg and Harper's Ferry. Unob- 
structed, the victorious Confederate army marched upon Frederick, 
Md., and it had been supposed by Gen. Lee that this advance 
would cause the evacuation of Martinsburg and Harper's Ferry, thus 
opening the lines of communication through the Valley. This not 
having occurred, it became necessary to dislodge the enemy from those 
positions before concentrating the army west of the Blue Ridge in 
Maryland and Pennsylvania. To accomplish this with the least delay, 
Gen. Jackson was directed to proceed with his corps to Martinsburg, 
and, after driving the enemy from that place, to move down the Po- 



THE CIVIL WAE PERIOD. 533 

tomac and invest Harper's Ferry. Leaving Frederick City on the 
lOtli of September, as McClellan was pressing forward, he moved with 
great rapidity through Middletown, Boousboro' and Williamsport, 
recrossed the Potomac into Virginia, and pressed forward to his task. 
A. P. Hill was sent on the main road to Martinsburg, E well's and 
Jackson's old division moved to the North Mountain depot, on the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, about seven miles northwest of Martins- 
burg, and Maj. Myers, commanding the cavalry, was despatched as far 
south as the Berkeley and Hampshire turnpike. The objects of these 
precautions was to prevent the escape westward of Gen. White, who 
was in command of the Federal force at Martinsburg. The arrange- 
ment worked to perfection, as on the night of the 11th White quietly 
left his position and went in the only direction open to his choice, 
toward Harper's Ferry, where he stepped into the trap set for him 
and Miles. On the 12th Jackson entered Martinsburg, where large 
quantities of Federal stores fell into his hands. Martinsburg Avas 
very much divided in its allegiance, but there were many ladies who 
hailed the occupation of their little city by Jackson and his troops 
with almost tumultuous acclamations. They fairly captured Stone- 
wall, and cat every button from his much- worn gray coat. Tliey 
seized him and almost smothered him with kindness and joy. While 
in a room at the old hotel on the corner of Burke and Queen Streets, 
and surrounded by his officers, including Gen. Hill and Maj. H. Kyd 
Douglas, he was besieged by the ladies of all ages, one of whom, an 
elderly maiden lady, who could not succeed in getting near to the 
hero, exclaimed above all the voices, "God bless you. Gen. Jackson!" 
He raised his eyes upward, for an instant, seeming to echo, inwardly, 
the spontaneous prayer of the old lady. Near Martinsburg Jackson 
was invited to accept of the hospitalities of a gentleman's house over 
night, but he declined, as was his usual custom, and spent the night 
in camp with the boys Avhom he loved and who so loved their grand 
old chieftain, " Stonewall, the Brave and Good." 

On Saturday, the 13tli, about 10 o'clock, the head of the Confed- 
erate column came in view of Bolivar Heights, with the enemy drawn 
up in line on that splendid military position, but alas, for their hopes 
of escape or siiccessful stand, as they were entangled in the meshes of 
one of the grandest pieces of strategy conceived by any commander 
during the war. Their last hope of breaking through the cordon van- 
ished when Jaekson appeared. Harper's Ferry now contained nearly 



534 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

14,000 Federal troops, with great quantities of stores, and it was a 
prize of the kind that Jackson always delighted to draw. Therefore, it 
can be imagined that no mistakes were probable or even possible. As 
he stated on one occasion about the time of the capture, when informed 
that the enemy was approaching, having in his rear a herd of cattle— 
"that he could whip any army that had a flock of cattle in its wake" — 
there was not much danger of the hungry Confederates losing the 
opportunity for obtaining the good things they knew must be in store 
for them at the Ferry. They had marched and marched till they were 
like hungry wolves. 

Bolivar Heights, as is well known, possibly, to most of the readers 
of this work, is in the rear of Harper's Ferry; Maryland Heights is 
opposite, on the northern side of the Potomac, and Loudoun Heights 
is that portion of the Blue Ridge across the Shenandoah, east of the 
Ferry. The Confederates now occupied these commanding positions, 
the Federal force on Bolivar Heights, when Jackson came in sight, 
having retired down into the town, and were there cooped up, await- 
ing the fate that now was inevitable. Jackson failed to get a reply to his 
signals to Gens. McLaws and Walker, posted on the opposite heights, 
or he would have made an immediate attack on the enemy, captured 
him, and been at the battles of Crampton's and Boonsboro' gaps. As 
it was, it was not until the night of the IStli that he received the 
replies he desired. The order in which Jackson reached a position 
for storming the enemy was as follows: Gen. Hill was to move on the 
right, along the bank of the Shenandoah, around the base of the hill, 
and turning the enemy's left, enter the town in their rear. Ewell's 
division, under Gen. Lawton, was to co-operate. One brigade of Jack- 
son's old division and a battery, under Gen. Jones, was to make a 
demonstration against the enemy's right, while the remainder of the 
division, as a reserve, moved along the turnpike in front. Maj. Mas- 
sie, commanding the cavalry, was directed to draw up his command 
on the left of the line, to prevent the enemy escaping toward Martins- 
burg. Gen. Walker was on Loudoun Heights, to prevent their escape 
over the mountain. Gen. McLaws was on Maryland Heights, to cut 
them off from the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. 

"Thus," in the language of a brilliant writer of twenty-three years 
ago, "the Federal commander was as completely environed with watch- 
ful and dangerous foes as a wild animal driven into his hole by a party of 
hunters, with all the avenues barred against his exit. Like a wolf in 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 535 

some cavern of the mountains, he was about to be smoked out, and 
forced either to surrender or die defending himself." With the forego- 
ing preparations, it is easily seen that the surrender of the Federal 
forces was only a matter of a very short time, and on the morning of the 
15th the Confederates entered Harper's Ferry and took possession of the 
prisoners and supplies. Nearly 13,000 prisoners, including one brig- 
adier-general, 13,000 small arms, seventy-three pieces of artillery, 
over 200 wagons and a large amount of camp and garrison equipage. 
The Confederate loss was, comparatively, nothing. The capture was 
considered to be worth the entire campaign in Maryland, and gave 
Jackson such a reputation that he, in connection with his other oper- 
ations, has been pronounced by one of the acknowledged highest mili- 
tary critics of the age, to have been one of the greatest captains in the 
history of the wars of the world. 

One of the most remarkable facts in connection with this taciturn, 
and almost singularly queer general of the Southern cause was the 
love and confidence he aroused among all classes of persons, as well 
as among his own soldiers. He was the strictest disciplinarian of 
the entire armies; so much so, as to border upon Martinetism, yet 
there was not the humblest private in his command who would not 
have willingly risked anything for the sake of their hero, " Old Jack," 
as some of them called him. And among the soldiery of the enemy 
there was a feeling of the greatest respect for Jackson. At this sur- 
render of Harper's Ferry, the Federal troops, instead of regarding 
their conqueror with a sentiment of hatred, and the usual malice and 
aversion, exhibited the liveliest admiration for him and curiosity to 
see him. Numbers of them desired to shake hands with him, and did 
so, and some of them openly said in his presence; " I ain't ashamed 
to say that Stonewall Jackson captured me." 

The battle of Sharpsburg, as it is known in the South, or Antietam, 
as known in the North, was fought on Wednesday, September 17, 
1862. On the night of the 18th, or rather on the morning of the 
19th, Gen. Lee withdrew from the Maryland side of the Potomac, 
crossing at what is known as the old Packhorse Ford, which lies 
about one mile east of Shepherdstown, heretofore spoken of in this vol- 
ume. Gens. A. P. Hill and Jackson had moved in the direction of 
Martinsburg with their commands, but when it was ascertained that 
McClellan had thrown across the river a considerable column, they 
were ordered back to check the Federal advance, which resulted in 



536 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

one of the bloodiest affrays of the war, it haviug not a parallel in the 
loss of life and the attendant horrors, for the length of time of the en- 
gagement and the circumstances surrounding it, during the four year& 
of the late sanguinary struggle. Gen. Fitz John Porter, with the 
Federal Fifth Corps, had been ordered by McClellan to support the 
cavalry sent in the advance, and he determined to essay the capture 
of some of the Confederate guns. The following, from a Northern 
source, covers the facts so well that it is given here, instead of in the- 
writer's own words: 

" He (Fitz John Porter) posted batteries on the knolls through 
which the railway passes at the northern end of the bridge, and lined 
the top of the Mai'yland bank with skirmishers and sharpshooters, 
supporting them by two divisions. Volunteers from the 4th Michi- 
gan, 118th Pennsylvania, and 18th and 22d Massachusetts regiments 
plunged into the ford at dark, and succeeded in capturing five guns. 
A reconnoissance in force was sent across the river next morning 
(20th) at seven o'clock. The cavalry ordered to co-operate failed to do 
so, and the unsupported infantry was sharply attacked by a greatly 
superior Rebel force. It was driven back, pushed over the cliffs, 
killed, captured, or forced into the river. The ford was filled with 
troops, for, just at that moment, the pet 'Corn Exchange' regiment 
of Philadelphia was crossing. Into these half-submerged, disorgan- 
ized and crowding masses of men, were poured not only the murder- 
ous fire of the Rebel cannon and rifles, but volley after volley from 
the Federal guns behind them in trying to get the range of the Con- 
federate batteries. The slaughter was terrific. The Potomac was 
reddened with blood and filled with corpses. When the routed de- 
tachment struggled back to shelter, a fourth of the Philadelphiaus, 
who had been in service only three weeks, were missing, and their 
comrades suffered equally." 

In this fight at the ford the Confederates took about 250 prisoners, 
but the number killed is scarcely known to this day, for ever since 
that terrible slaughter, skeletons have been found in the river or 
washed up to the banks. Even as late as the spring of 1889 two 
ghastly skeleton, were uncovered by the wash of the waters during the 
raging floods of June. After driving the Federals back across the 
river, they made no further attempt to advance upon Lee's force, which 
quietly went into camp near Bunker Hill, but in October McClellan 
crossed a considerable force both at Shepherdstown and Harper's- 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 537 

Ferry, and driving in Lee's advance of cavalry, pushed his column to 
Kearneysvilie, where he was met by Stuart with cavalry, artillery and 
the Stonewall Brigade. The next day McClellan pushed on to Charles- 
town, where he established his headquarters for a few hours only, and 
then returned to the Ferry. On the 26th of October McClellan crossed 
into Virginia at Berlin, and Lee broke camp at Winchester. Jackson 
remained in the Valley for awhile, but finally rejoined the main force 
on the Rappahannock, where, in the course of a few months, he was 
to lay down his splendid life in the defense of a cause he considered 
sacred. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
FROM 1863 ONWARD TO THE COLLAPSE. 

EwELL Surprises Milroy — Most of the Federal Force Captured— 
Large Amount of Supplies and Prisoners— Gen. Rhodes Makes a 
Capture at Martinsburg— Gen. Lee Enters Maryland by Way of 
THE Lower Valley— Imboden's Successful Affair at Charlestown 
—Capture of the Federal Garrison— Hunter Enters the Valley 
AND is Driven Out in Disgrace— Gen. Early in Command in the 
Valley— His Wonderful Expedition to the Rear of Washington — 
Early Falls Back to the Valley — An Incident after the Battle 
of Winchester — Graphic Description by John Esten Cooke — The 
Heroine Still in Winchester— The Valley Campaigjj of 1864— 
Sheridan Appears on the Scene— Battle of Winchester— Early 
Falls Back to Fisher's Hill— The Valley Devastated— Unprece- 
dented Incendiarism and Pillage — The Confederate Commander 
Prepares a Surprise— Battle of Cedar Creek — The So-Called 
"Ride" a Myth, Mostly— Gen. Wright Robbed of Honors Justly 
Due Him— The True Story of Cedar Creek— New Facts— End of 
the Struggle, Etc. 

SUCCEEDING the battle of Chancellorsville everything seemed 
propitious for the Confederate cause. Gen. Lee massed his 
army on the plains of Culpepper for a grand campaign into the 
enemy's country, and by the 1st of June, 1863, all was in readiness 
for the advance. Gen. E well's corps in the lead pushed rapidly for- 
ward and marched across the Blue Ridge Mountains, by way of Front 
Royal, into the Shenandoah Valley, upon Winchester. At this point 
was posted Gen. Milroy with 7,000 men. He held the fortifications, 



538 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Avhich he had very much improved in strength, and it was supposed 
that it would be a difficult job to dislodge him. On the 13th of June, 
1863, Ewell surprised him, defeated his entire force, and it was with 
great difficulty that the Federal general, himself, and a few officers 
escaped through the Confederate lines, under cover of the night, and 
succeeded in crossing the Potomac at Harper's Ferry. Four thousand 
prisoners, thirty pieces of artillery and about one hundred and fifty 
wagons, besides immense quantities of stores and ammunition, were 
captured in and near "Winchester. In addition to this, 700 Federals 
surrendered to Gen. Rhodes at Martinsburg. Ewell promptly moved 
down to the Potomac and occupied all the fords of that river. Gen. 
Lee, east of the Blue Ridge during these operations of his lieutenants 
in the valley, was so maneuvering and mystifying his opponent that 
the latter lost all opportunity to bring matters to a crisis, and when 
Lee suddenly dashed across the mountains to the valley and swiftly 
crossed his forces into Maryland by Avay of the ford below Shepherds- 
town, Hooker fell back and took a position also in Maryland. EwelFs 
corps had crossed the Potomac two days before Lee had, and occupied 
the town of Chambersburg. On the 27th of June the whole of Lee's 
army was at Chambersburg. An advance on Harrisburg was contem- 
plated, but the project was abandoned. Within twenty days the great 
Confederate general had brought his entire army from Fredericksburg, 
by way of the Shenandoah Valley, to the vicinity of Gettysburg, 
Avithout any appreciable opposition, a feat, the most remarkable in the 
history of the war, when the fact is taken into consideration that the 
Federal army outnumbered the Confederate two to one, was magnifi- 
cently equipped, and had all railroad facilities for transportation. 
When Lee commenced his march, Winchester, Berryville, Martins- 
burg and Harper's Ferry were garrisoned by hostile forces; the Fed- 
eral cavalry were in splendid condition, yet in the face of all these 
facts he had marched along the Rappahannock, over the passes of the 
Blue Ridge, down the Shenandoah Valley to the fords of the Potomac 
and across Maryland into Pennsylvania, without his progress being 
arrested. Only the incompetency of Hooker made the feat possible 
at that stage of the war, and he was rewarded for what he so flippantly 
"said he would do, but did not do" — "disperse the rebel rabble" — 
by public opinion forcing him to resign. Gen. Meade was appointed 
to fill the position, and then came on the battle of Gettysburg, that 
disastrous turning point in the fortunes of the Confederacy. 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 539 

There were no military operations of any importance in the Valley 
of the Shenandoah during the latter part of 1863, with the exception 
of a cavalry skirmish or two, but Gen. J. D. Imboden, who was in com- 
mand of the valley department at the time, performed a very credita- 
ble maneuver in Jefferson County. Imboden had been left to guard 
the mountain passes whilst Lee was making his famous flank move- 
ment on Meade's army in the vicinity of Warrenton, and he not only 
did that duty with splendid success, but on the 18th of October, made 
a sudden dash on to the loyal little Southern town of Charlestown, sur- 
prised and captured the Federal garrison stationed there, and carried 
off over five hundred prisoners and a large supply of army stores. The 
citizens of Charlestown were wild with joy, for, like their neighbors 
of the other valley towns, hundreds of the flower of Jefferson's best 
stock were engaged in the war for Southern rights. The ladies, in 
particular, could not do enough for the boys in gray, and fairly over- 
powered them with kindness. 

Without entering into details, a short synopsis of the events of the 
spring and summer of 1864, leading up to a very important, and in 
some respects, remarkable movement, in which the valley to a certain 
extent was a portion of the theatre, will not be out of place. After 
the defeat of Gen. Sigel at New Market and his retreat back to the 
Federal lines. Gen. Hunter, who had made himself infamous in South 
Carolina, had taken command of the Federal troops operating, or about 
to operate, in the Shenandoah Valley. The plan contemplated the 
capture of Staunton, Charlottesville, Gordonsville and Lynchburg, 
being an auxiliary to the movement against Richmond. Hunter, under 
instructions from Grant, moved up the valley, destroying the resi- 
dences of a number of the prominent citizens, and devastating as large 
a section of the country as he could, but he was kept so strictly to tha 
main roads by the assaults of the Confederate cavalry that he failed 
to do as much damage as he intended. Gen. W. E. Jones gave him 
battle at Piedmont, but Hunter's force was too large for the gallant 
cavalryman. On the 8th of June Hunter formed a junction with Crook 
and Averill at Staunton, whence he moved by way of Lexington to 
Lynchburg. To meet this demonstration of the enemy, it became 
necessary for Gen. Lee to detach a considerable portion of his force, 
and to select a commander, the decision, energy and rapidity of whose 
movements might overthrow Hunter, and possibly make an oppor- 
tunity to pass a column, however small, through the Valley of Vir- 



540 HISTOBY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

ginia to threaten the Federal capitol. Gen. J. A. Early, who had 
latterly commanded EwelPs corps, was appointed to perform the task, 
which he did with eminent success. He rapidly approached the Fed- 
eral forces, and drove them out through the mountains of western Vir- 
ginia, utterly demoralizing the enemy. Early, then rapidly marching 
down the Shenandoah Valley, crossed into Maryland. He approached 
Martinsburg on July the 3d, accompanied by a cavalry force under 
Ransom. Sigel, who was in command of the Federal forces there, 
retreated across the Potomac at Shepherdstown, and Gen. Weber, com- 
manding at Harper's Ferry, crossed the river and occupied Hagers- 
town. Following the National Turnpike, Early reached Frederick 
City, and ascertained that Gen. Lew Wallace had taken a position at 
Monocacy Bridge, four miles distant. Here, after a sharp fight, the 
Federal force fled in confusion toward Baltimore. Gen. Early then 
pressed forward, reaching Rockville on the evening of the 10th of July, 
Onward the Confederates marched, till the statue of "Freedom" on 
the dome of the capitol came in plain sight. The result of the ex- 
pedition is so well known that it needs no recital here. Many persons 
supposed that Early failed in his efforts to capture Washington, and 
that such was the object of the remarkable "raid," as it might be 
termed. Such were not the facts, however. He was merely instructed 
by Gen. Lee to "make a demonstration on Washington," for the pur- 
pose of attracting away from his (Lee's) front some of Grant's force. 
This it did, as the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps were hurriedly sent by 
the Federal general to Washington to man the fortifications around 
that city. That the above were the instructions to Gen. Early, the 
writer hereof happens to know, as dispatches in regard to the move- 
ment passed through his hands whilst in the signal service attached 
to Gen. Early's headquarters. With very little loss, the Confederate 
commander fell back to the valley once more, and there stood at bay 
on the Opequon, ready to defend that lovely region. He brought off 
5,000 horses and 2,500 beef -cattle, and lightened the shoulders of 
•Gen. Lee by lifting from them an army of 40,000 or 50,000 men. 

Shortly after Early took his position, as stated, and on the occasion 
of his falling back after a slight repulse near Winchester, an incident 
happened that is worthy of preservation in this work. John Esten 
Cook, whose contributions to Southern war literature are so highly ap- 
preciated in the South, furnished the subjoined beautiful sketch to the 
Winchester Times about a year and a half after the close of hostili- 




Jb:^.y^^<^e^ 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 543 

ties. It is so graphically written and contains so much of the feeling 
of the time, that it is given in full: 

"Fortunate is the incident in this bustling, hurrying world of ours, 
where there is so much to look at, so much to think of, so much to ex- 
cite tears or indignation or laughter — fortunate, we say, is the inci- 
dent which possesses the supreme advantage of being picturesque. 

" Other incidents may equal or surpass it in moral beauty, but 
they will not be able to equal it in attraction. Hearts may throb as 
nobly therein, but the world will not catch the tumultuous heaving of 
the bosom. Tears as noble may be shed, but they will flow in silence 
and unobserved. Deeds as worthy may be performed, but if they do 
not possess picturesqueness are they ever heard of? Do not the 
writers of the North, who ought to know the truth, declare that the 
Federal General Wright rallied and reformed their line after Early's 
terrible blow at them at Cedar Creek, in October, 1864? — and yet it 
was the picturesque Gen. Sheridan who rushed at full speed upon the 
field, 'shod with fire,' says his poet, and carried off all the glory. 
Unhappy Gen. Wright, if Mr. Swinton is good authority. Why did 
you not arrive at the nick of time, rally the rallied, and reap the hon- 
ors of the hard-fought field? 

"Your good, hard work, and steady nerve had the misfortune not 
to be 'picturesque' or 'striking,' General — hence nobody in the 
whole world fifty years from this time will ever know that it was you, 
not Sheridan, who saved the Federal army from destruction on that 
day. 

" But every subject has two phases — every thought cuts double- 
edged; the shield is silver or gold, as it is looked at from one side or 
the other. Actions may be grand and picturesque both — as noble and 
beautiful as they are striking and impressive. The incident which 
we are now about to relate will be found to illustrate this statement. 
The picture which we shall attempt to draw is one of those which 
catches the eye, moves the heart, touches the hidden founts of feeling, 
and draws forth those ' noble tears ' which flow forever in the long cur- 
rent of our human history at the mention of all beautiful and heroic 
deeds. 

"The incident took place in July, 1864, just after Early's return 
from Washington, and when his advance force under Ramseur was 
near Winchester. On the afternoon of the 20th of that month, General 
Ramseur — the gallant, the noble, the heroic Ramseur, who died as he 

33 



544 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

had lived — a fearless soldier and stainless gentleman — received in- 
formation from General Vaughan that Averill was at Stephenson's 
depot, a few miles northeast of the town, with a force so small as to 
render an attack upon him almost certain to result in his capture. 
Acting upon this information, Ramseur put his troops in motion, ad- 
vanced to attack Averill, and soon the forces on both sides were en- 
gaged in an obstinate conflict — Ramseur having moved with too little 
caution, in consequence of the reported inferiority of his opponent. 

" The result was a serious repulse by Averill's large force; the loss 
of four pieces of artillery, the death of Col. Board, of the Fifty-eighth 
Virginia, and the wounding of Generals Lewis and Lilly. Many of 
the command, officers and privates, besides these gentlemen were killed 
and wounded. When Ramseur fell back, as he was compelled to do 
to prevent himself from being flanked by a large foi'ce approach- 
ing from Berryville, he left the ground covered with his dead and 
wounded. 

"He retired through Winchester, joined Early at Newtown, and 
Winchester was again in the hands of the Federals. 

"' Winchester,' throughout the war meant, most of all, the ^ women 
of Winchester.' It was this noble body of high-souled and heroic 
women who now looked with eyes full of regret and longing upon 
Ramseur's disappearing columns — and with sadness unutterable to- 
ward the battle-field of the preceding day, whereon so many of their 
dear Southern defenders were lying in their blood. 

" With the women of Winchester, to see suffering was to attempt 
courageously to relieve it. For long years now they had been accus- 
tomed to the war of artillery, the crash of small arms, to nursing the 
sick, succoring the wounded, and binding up the bruised forms, broken 
and bleeding beneath the chariot wheels of that terrible demon — war. 
Have we not seen them after Kernstown hanging with sobs over the 
death trenches — bearing off the sorely hurt, facing with tears of noble 
scorn the enemies who were the masters of the moment? 

" That was in 1862, and be sure that in 1864 the long years of 
soul-crushing war had not abated one particle of that proudly defiant, 
that tenderly merciful spirit which, through all coming time, will 
remain the glory of their names and the pride of those who draw their 
blood from those true daughters of Virginia. 

" Of the incident which we propose to relate, we have an account 
derived from a valued friend, herself one of the nobly charitable young 



THE CIVIL WAR PEEIOD. 545 

ladies of the old border town ; also another statement from an unknown 
correspondent living in the neighborhood of the battlefield. Upon 
these our narrative is based. 

*' Night had come, and a large number of ladies, who had obtained 
permission to perform their pious duties from the Federal ofl&cer in 
command at Winchester, reached the battle-field. It was one of those 
marvelous nights of July, 1864, when the heavens seemed all ablaze 
with the glory of the full -orbed moon. The field, covered with dead 
and dying, slept in the light of this great moon, and the Federal sur- 
geons were busy at their painful duty of amputating limbs, probing 
and binding up wounds, depositing the sufferers in ambulances, and 
attending, as far as possible, to the painful calls of each. A battle- 
field after a hard fight is a spectacle so sad that he who has looked 
upon it once never wishes to behold it again, and the saddest of all 
the terrible* features of such scenes, perhaps, is the impossibility of 
promptly attending to the wants of all. Your arm may be shattered 
by a bullet, but your neighbor's leg is torn to pieces by a shell, and 
he is bleeding to death. Before your arm can be bound up, his leg 
must be amputated — it is painful, you think, to leave you writhing 
there, but each in his turn, friend — the leg before the arm! 

" It was a real assistance when the Winchester ladies came to the 
aid of the Federal surgeons, thus relieving the latter in a large meas- 
ure from the care of the Confederate wounded. They assiduously 
applied themselves to the painful task before them, and were ministers 
of mercy once more to their Southern brethren, as they had been be- 
fore, after so many hard-fought battles in that country of hard battles, 
the Valley of the Shenandoah. 

" Among the young ladies was Miss (we do not feel at liberty 

to present her full name to the world), and to this fair daughter of 
the Valley belongs the credit of the beautiful action which we proceed 
to record. In passing amid the dead and wounded, now dimly dis- 
cernible only by the surgeons' lanterns, the moonlight, and the last 

beams of day. Miss came all at once upon a youth who seemed 

to be suffering extreme agony. He was moaning fearfully, and bend- 
ing over him, the young lady saw that he was frightfully wounded. 
The blood had deluged his person, and although his wound had been 
hastily bound up by one of the surgeons, he was evidently suffering 
horribly ; his features were contracted by his anguish, and, lying in a 
very constrained position, he seemed the most piteous object which 
had yet attracted her attention. 



546 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

" To see bis sufferings was to attempt its relief. The young lady 
sat down on the ground, and finding that the poor boy was almost 
unconscious from the extent of his agony, she raised his head in order 
to afford him, if possible, some ease, if only from the change of 
position. She had scarcely done so when a painful sigh issued from 
the lips of the wounded youth, his head sank in the young lady's arms, 
and his measured breathing told that he had almost instantly fallen 

asleep. This result was so unexpected that Miss was for some 

moments completely at a loss what course to pursue. It seemed an 
unnecessary and excessive act of attention to remain thus holding the 
vouth's head — her position was becoming a very painful one — her 
companions had passed to other portions of the extensive battle-field 
— she was alone in the midst of a great waste of fields and woods, at 
night, unprotected from insult, and holding in her arms a wounded 
soldier, who would, in all probability, soon be a corpse. 

" Under these trying circumstances she once or twice essayed to 
move and place the boy in an easy position upon the grass ; but when- 
ever she attempted to do so his features contracted painfully, he 
moaned uneasily, and it was only when she resumed her position, 
holding his drooping head as before in her arms, that he sunk once 
more to calm and painless slumber. She was still supporting thus the 
form of the wounded youth, when one of the Federal surgeons 
approached and looked with some surprise at the touching group. 
Then his gaze was directed to the face of the youth, whom he evi- 
dently recognized. In a few words addressed to Miss , the sur- 
geon explained how he had, himself, dressed and bandaged the youth's 
wounds — his case was a most critical one — nevertheless, if he could 
sleep for some hours, he might live. He had not slept since the battle ; 
was dying for sleep ; the crisis of his fever had arrived ; if this slum- 
ber continued until morning, he might then be out of danger; if it was 
broken his death was a certainty. Having made this announcement 
in that terribly matter-of-fact tone which characterizes persons familiar 

with suffering and death, the surgeon passed on, leaving Miss 

alone among the dead and wounded, and still holding the bleeding 
young man in her arms. 

" If his slumber coniinued until morning he might then be out of 
danger — if it was broken, his death was a certainty. 

"That was the plain, clear and terribly logical statement of the 
surgeon. To live he must sleep — and those two or three attempts to 



THE CIYIL WAK PERIOD. 547 

deposit her burden on the grass, with the sudden wakefulness of the 
patient, proved to the young lady that to sleep his head must continue 
to rest in her arms. When this fact was clear and patent to her in- 
telligrence, her resolution was taken. No movement of hers should 
disturb the deep slumber of the boy — no act of her own arrest the 
subtle spirit of life which, like a blessed balm, was even then infusing 
itself into his shattered frame. The place might be dark and lonely — 
the night cold, fearful, terrible there among the dead — her position 
might be, as it indeed soon became, unutterably painful, weighed down 
as her arm was by the poor youth's weight; but there was something 
worse than night, cold, pain, loneliness and presence of death — it was, 
not to save that boy's life when she could save it. 

" And she determined to save it. Throughout the long hours of 
the dreary night she remained as motionless as a statue of mercy, 
holding the boy's head in her arms. All others had returned to Win- 
chester; around her was the vast moonlit field, over whose surface the 
wind sighed mournfully; on every hand were the wounded, the dying, 
the dead, and yet this brave, kind girl — let us say this good, true 
girl — did not shrink from her task; the young heroine did not stir; 
though the delicate arm was nearly broken by the weight upon it, no 
tremor of the nerves indicated the dire pain which she was suffering, 
and suffering with that silent fortitude which shames the foolish the- 
ory that women are less brave than men. 

" In our comfortable homes, by our cheerful fires, we read of that 
and cry ' bravo!' Perhaps we applaud, but would we have thus nobly 
acted for a brother, husband or father — doubtless; but for a stranger? 
That wounded youth was a perfect stranger to the young lady; she 
had never seen his face before that evening; it was an angel of mercy 
succoring a fellow-creature, not a sister or mother facing all things 
for a brother or son. Do you wish a subject for a great painting, Mr. 
Washington, finer even than that of the Burial of Latane? I offer 
it to you. 

"Hour after hour the wounded youth slept on. His regular breath- 
ing indicated clearly that his suffering had abated; a blessed and re- 
freshing slumber had descended upon the tortured nerves, the shat- 
tered frame, step by step, from the very brink of the grave, where she 
had found him; the poor boy was coming back to life. The long 
hours of the summer night passed on like shadowy birds who slowly 
flap their huge wings as they silently sweep by. The moon went 



548 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

down; the constellations wheeled their paths in heaven; then the 
morning star only shone above the yellow streak of dawn. The cold, 
pale light fell on the figures with their position unchanged, the youth 
still sleeping tranquilly, the young lady still supporting his head. As 
the first bright beams of sunrise fell upon his face, he ojjened his eyes, 
gazed dreamily at her and a faint smile came to his lips, Avhich ut- 
tered a low sigh. He was saved! 

"Did tears from the eyes of that noble girl fall on that pale face, 
where the flush of fever no longer burned? I know not, but if such 
tears flowed from the kind eyes, an angel might have gathered them 
for a diadem. 

"When Miss returned to Winchester, she was weak, ex- 
hausted, unstrung by the nervous excitement, no less than the physical 
prostration of that terrible night among the dying and the dead. The 
muscles of her arm were so contracted by the heavy pressure upon 
them, hour after hour, that for many days she could not raise her 
hand — scarcely move the member. The pain, exposure and excite- 
ment seriously affected her, and she was confined for some time to her 
bed, but on that couch of suffering she had a blessed consolation. 
That consolation was the thought, 'I have saved the life of a Confed- 
erate soldier, wounded in defending his country ! ' 

" When General Early — all health and happiness attend in his 
place of exile that brave true gentleman, that hardy soldier — when 
General Early heard the noble incident which we have essayed to re- 
late, he exclaimed, in a burst of admiration, 'God bless the women of 
Winchester! They are like the camomile flower — the more they are 
crushed, the sweeter they are!' 

"True, General! It was said of old that 'none but the brave de- 
serve the fair' — you prove that the brave can best appreciate them. 
You fought for those women of Winchester on many fields — you were 
leading a forlorn hope, but you did your best — with your 7,000 or 
8,000 against Sheridan's 30,000 or 40,000 — you loved and admired 
and risked your life for them, and that radical crew at Washington, 
howling curses at your very name, cannot hurt you in the estimation 
of your brave countrywomen of the brave old town of Winchester! 
One who is proud to have been born there has tried here to relate one 
of a thousand instances which reflect undying honor on the women of 
the old border citadel defended once by Washington. 

"They have risen under suffering with a grand and noble courage. 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 549 

They have been true to the flag iu the dark hour as in the bright; and 
to-day their proudest thought, their suJB&cient reward, is that they 
have taken to their bosoms — these brave women of Winchester — the 
known or unknown dust of the mighty Confederate dead. Each is 
worthy of the other — those dead heroes slumber beside the homes of 
the women who loved them — those women who were and are, and ever 
will be the pride and glory of Virginia. Resolute and devoted be- 
yond what words can describe, they were as gentle as they were brave, 
as modest as they were courageous. ' As I think,' one of them writes 
us, 'over the stirring scenes, it was a happiness to mix in during the 
eventful four years of the war, many heroic deeds of our men rush 
upon my mind, but nothing done by the women. They only fed the 
hungry, nursed the wounded, patiently bore hardship, dangers and 
insults, and hoped and wept and prayed for our cause, and these 
things, though we humbly trust they are written in a book that will 
live longer than any devised by man, still will not make much figure 
in history.' 

"Do you think so, madam? Never was greater mistake. More 
than one Southern gentleman has sworn, be assured, that these things 
shall live in history. Do you imagine that it was nothing to ' feed 
the hungry, nurse the wounded, and patiently bear hardships, dangers 
and insults' while you 'hoped and wept and prayed for our cause.' 
Believe me, that is more than carrying a musket — and for this the 
coming generations shall rise up and thank you and call you blessed! 
Not known in history? — be tranquil. Fame knows her children, and 
her august clarion will pronounce the name of every one of them ! 

"It is little — you do not need that — but be assured, in the words 
of Beauregard to the Eighth Georgia, cut to pieces at Manassas, that 
' history shall never forget you!' " 

The object of Early's presence in the Valley was the same as 
Stonewall Jackson's, in 1862 — to relieve Gen. Lee. So determined 
and bold was the stand of the Confederate commander, after he made 
his halt near Winchester, that he was enabled to send a force across 
into Pennsylvania and burn Chambersburg, which occurred July 30, 
1864. Grant had not recalledthe Sixth and Nineteenth Corps. On 
the contrary, he saw the necessity of an enlarged campaign to protect 
the frontiers of Maryland and Pennsylvania; so, what was known as 
the Middle Department, consisting of the Departments of West Vir- 
ginia, Washington and Susquehanna, were consolidated and placed 



550 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

under the command of Gen. Sheridan, who had gained some notoriety 
in the West. In addition to the two corps named above, and the in- 
fantry and cavalry of West Virginia, under Averill and Crook, he had 
assigned to him two divisions of cavalry from the Army of the Poto- 
mac under Torbert and Wilson. The Federal commander thus had 
an effective force of not less than 40,000; official reports give evidence 
of that fact. Gen. Lee, to meet this increased force of the enemy, 
detached from his army Kershaw's division of Longstreet's corps and 
Fitzhugh Lee's division of cavalry. Early, in the meantime, had 
fallen back to Fisher's Hill to await the re-enforcements. They came 
by way of Chester Gap, arriving at Front Eoyal August 15. The 
Federals were at this time occupying a position on a commanding emi- 
nence on the north bank of the north fork of the Shenandoah River, 
known as " Guard Hill," but when attacked by Anderson's advance, 
consisting of Wickham's brigade of Lee's division of cavalry, sup- 
ported by a brigade of infantry under Wofford, they fell back, after 
quite a spirited contest. On the morning of the 17th, Anderson and 
Lee commenced their advance and followed up the enemy's retreat. 
At Winchester they united with Gen. Early's column, which had come 
up in the meantime, drove the Federal troops through the town and 
captured one piece of artillery and some prisoners. The next day the 
pursuit was continued, driving the enemy to his stronghold at Harper's 
Ferry. The Confederate force now consisted of the infantry divisions 
of Ramseur, Rhodes, Gordon and Wharton, and Lomax's cavalry 
division under Early and Breckinridge; under Anderson were Ker- 
shaw's division of infantry and Fitzhugh Lee's division of cavalry. 

For several weeks nothing of any importance occurred in the 
Lower Valley, only marching and counter-marching in the vicinity of 
Charlestown, until Gen. Lee, realizing that the enemy was gaining 
more by the delay than he was, ordered Kershaw's division back 
to Culpepper Courthouse. As soon as Sheridan ascertained this de- 
pletion of Early's force, he prepared to move, although for some time 
he had outnumbered the Confederates three to one. After Kershaw's 
departure. Early disposed his army as follows: Ramseur's division of 
infantry (only numbering about fifteen hundred muskets), Lee's di- 
vision of cavalry under Wickham (Fitzhugh Lee being in command 
of all the cavalry), were at Winchester. Wharton's division of infan- 
try and Lomax's cavalry were about Stephenson's Depot, five miles from 
Winchester. Rhodes' and Gordon's divisions, in charge of Gen. Early 



THE CIVIL WAE PERIOD. 551 

himself, were marched to Martinsburg for the purpose oi rendering 
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad useless, it having been repaired since 
the Confederates last tore it up. Sheridan having moved up between 
Charlestown and Berryville, it will be seen that the position of Early's 
force was very dangerously situated. The Federal commander, besides 
being in a position almost on Early's flank, was, by way of White 
Post nearer the Valley Turnpike, than most of the Confederate force. 
Sheridan realizing his opportunity, concluded to seize on Winchester 
before Early could come up, and on the 18th of September began his 
movement from Berryville toward that point. On the same day Early 
moved up to Bunker Hill with his two divisions. At daylight of the 19th 
the Confederate pickets were driven in and the enemy's cannon were 
thundering at Ramseur's little band, drawn up beyond Winchester. 
Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry were soon in position on Ramseur's left, and the 
battle began. The enemy were in such superior numbers that the fight- 
ing on the part of the Confederates was simply heroism. Never fought 
men better, and they held their ground till 11 o'clock in the morning 
(having fought six hours), when the advance of Rhodes' division made 
its appearance. Gordon arrived next, and Wharton, in command of 
Breckinridge's old division came last. It (Wharton's) had been 
holding in check the cavalry under Torbert, at Stephenson's Depot. 
The battle continued nearly all day, but at last, pressed heavily by 
fourfold numbers and flanked almost on all sides, had to retreat up the 
Valley, to save what it could of the small army left to the now hope- 
less Valley, and which was destined to soon melt away and leave that 
same beautiful land to the ravages and horrors of an unmerciful 
victor flushed with poorly earned success. Early fell back to 
Fisher's Hill, where, after a time, he was attacked and sent farther up 
the Valley. Recovering afterward, he again made his way, worn out 
and fearfully depleted in numbers, to the vicinity of Fisher's Hill and 
Round Top, west of that point. Here, the grand old commander, who 
has more friends to-day among the true Southern masses than he ever 
had before, took his stand to await any opportunity, like a wounded 
lion, to strike back at his pursuers. 

When Early fell back from. Fisher's Hill, Sheridan pursued as far 
as Staunton, but the Federal commander again made his way back to 
the vicinity of Cedar Creek. In returning to this position, Sheridan 
perpetrated a series of premeditated atrocities that have rarely been 
equalled for heartless barbarity in the history of any war. He de- 



552 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

terminecl to devastate the Valley wherever he could reach it. This 
ruthless measure was not confined to the destruction of the crops, pro- 
visions and forage; mills were burned, farming implements were de- 
stroyed, residences gutted of their contents and the buildings utterly 
ruined. Sheridan wrote from Strasburg as if he were commemorating 
a great deed instead of writing down a record of imperishable infamy: 
" In moving back to this point, the whole country from the Blue Ridge 
to the North Mountain has been made entirely untenable for a rebel 
army. I have destroyed over 2,000 barns filled with wheat and hay 
and farming implements; over seventy mills filled with flour and 
wheat; have driven in front of the army over 4,000 head of stock, and 
have killed and issued to the troops not less than 3,000 sheep. This 
destruction embraces the Luray Valley and the Little Fort Valley, as 
well as the Main Valley." 

When Gen. Early returned to the Lower Valley, posting himself, 
as stated, at a point west of Fisher's Hill, he brought with him rein- 
forcements consisting of Kershaw's division of infantry, a battalion 
of artillery, and about 600 cavalry, numbering in all about 3,500 men. 
On October 18, 1864, Early had concluded to give the enemy a sur- 
prise. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon of that day the old general, 
accompanied by one of his staff, climbed up to the top of the struct- 
ure built of logs on the top of Round Top, which was used as a sig- 
nal station, and in his peculiar nasal drawl said to the writer hereof: 
" Young man, let me have that glass." The telescope was adjusted 
for the general and he sat for, possibly, half an hour on a log and 
viewed Sheridan's camp from side to side, a large portion of which 
could be plainly seen from the signal station. Apparently satisfied 
with his examination. General Early slowly climbed down from the 
perch without dropping a single intimation as to his intentions in com- 
ing to our station, nor did we know anything of the proposed move- 
ment till near midnight. 

At this time, to the writer's personal and unmistakable knowledge. 
Early had less than 10,000 men, and his force, therefore, was entirely 
inadequate for an open attack against Sheridan's 40,000. The enemy 
was posted on a line of hills, the Eighth Corps on the left, the Nine- 
teenth Corps in the center, and the Sixth Corps on the right, some- 
what in the rear and in reserve. Early's plan was to make a feint 
with light artillery and cavalry against the enemy's right, while the 
bulk of his force marched toward the left, where the Sixth Corps was 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 553 

posted. The movement commenced about 3 o'clock on the morn- 
ing of the 19th. Demonstrations were made on the enemy's right, 
and whilst the sounds of musketry contributed to conceal the move- 
ments of the flanking force, the Confederates toiled along some six or 
seven miles through a rugged country, crossing the north fork of the 
Shenandoah by a ford a mile east of the junction of Cedar Creek with 
that river. They marched in profound silence, and many places had 
to be traversed by the men in single file, who had frequently to cling 
to the undergrowth to retain their foothold while climbing up the 
steep ravines. Before dawn the flanking column was across the ford: 
Gordon's division in front, Ramseur's next, and Pegram's in reserve. 
They were favored by a heavy fog. The pickets of the Federal army 
were perfectly unconscious of the presence of an enemy, yet Early 
had brought his column to the rear of the left flank of the Eighth 
Corps. The surprise was perfect. So sudden was the onslaught of 
the Confederates that the Eighth Corps was unable to form a line of 
battle, and in five minutes were in a stampede. Many of the men 
awoke with a Confederate soldier standing over him. The Nineteenth 
Corps was soon involved in the rout, and the whole Federal left and 
center were driven as a flock of sheep before the victorious Confeder- 
ates, slaying many of the enemy in their camps, capturing eighteen 
pieces of artillery, 1,500 prisoners, small arms without number, wag- 
ons, camps, ammunition, everything on the ground. The Sixth corps 
endeavored to cover the retreat, and just beyond Middletown an attempt 
was made to form a line of battle, but the Confederates threatened a 
flank movement, got possession of the town, and put the enemy on 
what was believed to be his final retreat toward Winchester. But just 
here was where the mistake was made. Instead of pursuing the panic- 
stricken Federal troops, and capturing or putting them to utter rout, 
the victors began pillaging the deserted camps. Nothing but a little 
skirmishing and artillery firing was kept up beyond Middletown. On 
the other hand the Federal Gen. Wright, who was in command (Sheri- 
dan being absent in Washington), saw his opportunity. At the first 
good ground between Middletown and Newtown he rallied his forces, 
formed a compact line, and soon put his men in a condition to not only 
resist further attack, but to take the offensive. Gen. Sheridan did not 
arrive upon the field until after Gen. Wright had stopped the retreat, 
and formed his line of battle, as hundreds of persons, not only in the 
Federal army, can testify, but many persons in the vicinity of where 
the fabulous "Sheridan's Ride" did- not take place, know full well. 



554 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

The plain and simple facts in regard to the "Ride" are these: 
Sheridan went to Washington a day or two before the surprise at 
Cedar Creek, and returned to Winchester late at night on the 18th. 
He went to bed at his headquarters and slept till near 7 o'clock in 
the morning. Just after 7 o'clock he was walking up and down 
the pavement in front of his quarters, in conversation with a gentle- 
man who is still living in Winchester. At that time he was perfectly 
unconscious of anything happening up at Cedar Creek. Maj.-Gen, 
H. G. Wright, commanding the Sixth Corps, was the ranking officer 
in the absence of Sheridan, and of course was in command at the bat- 
tle of Cedar Creek. He knew nothing of Sheridan's arrival at AYin- 
chester during the night, and therefore sent no word to him of the 
disaster to his command. The first intimation of the affair reached 
Sheridan through one of the fugitives who had made good time down 
the pike from the battlefield to Winchester. This was about half 
past nine o'clock, for about that time the same gentleman who had 
conversed with him before breakfast saw him pass with one of his 
staff, riding briskly along Braddock street. The gentleman spoke to 
him as he rode by, and Sheridan made some cheerful remark as he 
passed. The gentleman indicated was one of the few Union men of 
the intensely loyal old Southern town of Winchester. The ride Sher- 
idan made was to where Gen. Wright had his forces in line, ready to 
take the offensive, which was about half way between Middletown and 
Newtown, a distance at farthest of ten miles. There was nothing for 
Sheridan to do but to take command and do just what Gen. Wright 
was about doing. The glamor of Buchanan Read's poem has had 
the effect of robbing a brave and skillful Federal soldier of the just 
meed of praise due him for an action so promptly and effectively per- 
formed, and given it to a man who had not the least foundation in 
right for any claim to it. And to make the matter worse, the very 
report of Gen. Wright was never published until last year (1889). 
How it became suppressed is a mystery, but in the National Tribune, 
a Grand Army newspaper published at Washington, of January 31, 
1889, the affair is ventilated, and a copy of the original report, which 
covers the claims the writer hereof makes, is printed. True, Sheridan 
never made any claim to the honor of having saved the day at Cedar 
Creek, but he permitted everybody else to do it for him, and said not 
a word that would have placed about the name of a gallant comrade 
the halo of a fame to which he was entitled. 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 



555 



The Federal advance took place abovit three o'clock, and the result 
is so well known that a recital of it here would be trite. SviflQce it to 
say, that all that the unfortunate Gen, Early had accomplished in the 
morning was undone in the evening. He was driven out of the Val- 
ley, and not many weeks afterward the whole country west of the Blue 
Ridge was practically in the hands of the Federal authorities. Gen. 
Early did the best he could with so small a force at his command, and 
it is doubtful whether any one else under the same circumstances 
could have done any better. That he was not only brave but skillful, 
was attested by that matchless, incomparable Southern leader, that 
Christian soldier and knightly gentleman — Gen. Egbert E. Lee, 




GENEALOGY AND BIOGEAPHY. 557 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
GENEALOGY AND BIOGEAPHY. 

Alexandre R. Boteler is a native of Shepherdstown, and of Revolu- 
tionary descent. He was born May 16, 1815, and is the eldest son of the 
late Dr. Henry Boteler, of Shepherdstown, a physician of large practice and 
acknowledged skill in his profession, who had the respect and esteem, not 
only of the community in which he lived, but likewise of an extensive 
acquaintance beyond its limits. For what Dr. Johnson said of Savage might 
appropriately be applied to him: " He scarcely ever found a stranger whom 
he did not leave a friend." Born in 1799, he died in 1836. 

Dr. Henry Boteler' s father (of whom he was the youngest son), was Capt. 
Henry Boteler, of "Park Hall," Pleasant Valley, Md., who was an officer 
of the Revolution and also in the old French War, his commission as captain in 
the former bearing the same date as the Declaration of Independence, in 
which year (1776) he commanded a company raised in the region around 
Hagerstown, Md. (which was then known as Elizabethtown in the " Upper 
Hundred of Frederick County"), his subordinates being Thomas Odhie, 
first lieutenant; John Nichols, second lieutenant, and Barton Philpot, 
ensign. Two of his sons were members of his company and marched with 
it to the " Jersies." In 1757, as captain of Rangers, he was ordered with 
his company and those of Capts. Lucket and Middaugh, to garrison Fort 
Frederick, which had been built the year before, at a cost of £6,000, west 
of where Williamsport now is, and the substantial stone walls of which yet 
stand. He was born on the 15th of October, 1728, and died in 1814. His 
father was Edward Boteler, and the first of the family who was born in this 
county, being the only son of an englishjnan of the same name who mar- 
ried Priscilla Macubbin, of Lower Maryland, and an aunt of Gen. William 
Macubbin Lingan, of Revolutionary memory, who was so barbarously mur- 
dered by a mob in Baltimore on the night of July 27, 1812. 

Mr. Alex. R. Boteler, on his mother's side, is the eldest great grandson 
of Charles William Peale, the patriot artist of the Revolutionary era. So 
that it may be duly said of Mr. Boteler that he came of good, old patriotic 
stock on both sides of his family. In 1835 he graduated at Princeton Col- 



558 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

lege, and in the following year married Miss Helen Stockton, eldest daugh- 
ter of Dr. Eben Stockton, who was a surgeon of the Continental Army of 
the Revolution, serving to the end of the war, and was one of the original 
members of the Order of the Cincinnati. The same year after his marriage 
Mr. Boteler devoted himself to literary and agricultural pursuits, resisting 
all eiforts to enter the political field until 1850, when he was nominated 
(against his will) for the state senate as a whig, and as the district com- 
posed of the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson was democratic, he was 
defeated. In 1851 he was appointed by the Whig State Convention upon 
its electoral ticket, the Hon. John Randolph Tucker being the Democratic 
candidate for elector, and held joint discussions in all the counties of the 
congressional district with his accomplished opponent. In 1852 he received 
the unanimous nomination of the Whig District Convention for Congress, and 
had the Hon. Charles James Faulkner as his competitor. The campaign 
was conducted on the Virginia plan of joint discussions, and though the 
district was democratic by two or three thousand majority, Mr. Boteler was 
beaten by less than two hundred of the popular vote. Subsequently in the 
presidential campaign of 1856 Mr. Boteler was again the whig elector with 
Mr. Tucker to meet him on the hustings as his democratic competitor, and 
in the following year he ran another unsuccessful congressional race with 
Mr. Faulkner, and reduced his majority to a little more than a hundred. 
Not discouraged by these successive defeats, he again, in 1859, entered the 
field as a candidate for Congress against his old and able antagonist, Mr. 
Faulkner, and this time defeated him. When he took his seat as a member 
of the thirty-sixth Congress, he was nominated for the speakership, a very 
unusual compliment to a new member. His competitors for the position 
were the Hon. John Sherman, of Ohio, on the part of the republicans, and 
the Hon. Thomas Bocock, of Virginia, on the part of the democrats. The 
contest lasted for six weeks, and finally resulted in the election of Mr. Pen- 
nington, of New Jersey. While it was going on, Mr. Boteler made a memor- 
able union speech, which the late S. S. Cox, in his " Two Decades of Legis- 
lation," asserts was (with, the exception of one of • Sergt. S. Prentiss' 
speeches) the most eloquent speech ever made in Congress. 

At the beginning of the second session of the thirty-sixth Congress, it 
was Mr. Boteler who moved the resolution for the appointment of the cele- 
brated committee of thirty-three " to take into consideration the perilous 
condition of the country." 

When the war broke out between the States, Mr. Boteler was the Inde- 
pendent Union candidate for re-election to Congress with no opposition in his 
district, but upon the secession of Virginia he sided with his native state, and 
was successively elected by the people of his county of JefPerson to the State 
Legislature; by the State Convention to the Provincial Congress of the Con- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 559 

federate States; and by his congressional district to the first regialar Con- 
gress of the Confederacy, and served in the two last-named bodies. Daring 
the interval of his service' in the Confederate Congress he also served as A. 
D. C, to Govs. Letcher and Smith, and also in the field on the personal 
staff of Stonevpall Jackson and Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, finally surrendering 
vfith Gen. Lee at Appomattox Court House. Since the war he has been active 
in railroad matters; was the Centennial commissioner for West Virginia, a, 
member of the Tariff Commission, examiner for the department of justice,, 
clerk of the pardons in said department, etc. 

William M.\yo Atkinson. A biographical notice of the life and labors; 
of the Rev. William Mayo Atkinson, D. D., of the Presbyterian Church of 
Virginia, and a brief history of his family shou\d find a place in this work. 
He was born at the family estate of "Mansfield,'' Dinwiddie County, near 
Petersburg, Va. , on April 22, 1796. He was the eldest son of a large family, 
and connected with and related to nearly all of the old and well-known and 
influential families, who, during his day and since, have held the highest so- 
cial and business positions in the State of Virginia. Roger Atkinson, Sr., 
his grandfather, was born in Cumberland County, England, at White Haven, 
June 24, 1723, o^ parents holding high social position there. ' He emigrated 
to this country and to the Stat'^ of Virginia in 1750. Here he met and mar- 
ried Ann Pleasants, who was born at "Curies Neck," on the James River, 
Va. , December 12, 1730. She was the daughter of John Pleasants, second 
in descent from John Pleasants of "Curies," Henrico County, Va., who 
emigrated from Norwich in 1065. They were married April 21, 1753, and 
they had the following children: Dorothy, born January 8, 1756; John, born 
February 1, 1759; Jenny, born February 1, 1762, married Joseph Jones, 
June 24, 1782; Roger, born in February, 1764, and married, September, 
1788, Agnes Poythress (their daughter Lucy married Theoderick Pryor, 
whose son is Gen. Roger Atkinson Pryor, now a lawyer of distinction in the 
city of New York); Nancy, born October 1, 1766, married June 30, 1786, 
to John Ponsonby; Thomas, born August 7, 1769, married Sally Page, nee 
Nelson; Robert, born October 23, 1771, married, December 18, 1794, Mary 
Tabb Mayo, the daughter of William Mayo, of Powhatan seat, on the James 
River, near the city of Richmond, Va. , where she was born in 1780. Her 
mother was a Miss Poythress, of a well-known and distinguished ancient 
family of that day. Her brother, Robert Mayo, was an extensive and suc- 
cessful tobacco manufacturer of Richmond, Va. , and has been succeeded in 
this business by P. H. Mayo & Bros., his sons, who conduct the business 
with great success, with Thomas Atkinson, a grandson of Bishop Thomas 
Atkinson as a partner. Her grandfather was Joseph Mayo, who emigrated 
to this country in 1727 from Barbadoes, where he was a wealthy merchant, 
and coming here he purchased the ancient seat on the James River, of Pow- 

34 



560 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

hatan, the noted and powerful Indian chieftain and father of Pocahontas. 
Robert Atkinson died May 3, 1821, in his fiftieth year, and his wife Mary 
died in March, 1823, aged forty-three years. The foregoing large family 
of Roger Atkinson for the most part had descendants, and they with their 
ancestors have filled with honor and credit their various stations in life, 
leaving behind them good names and characters without reproach. Robert 
and Mary Atkinson left the following children: Ann, born January 3, 1798, 
who married William Patterson in 1814; William M. Atkinson, born April 
22, 1790; Eliza M., born December 6, 1799, who married William Byrd 
Page, of Pagebrooke, Clarke County, Va., whose sole descendants were Mrs. 
Col. Richard Henry Lee, and Mrs. Capt. William N. Nelson of the same 
county: Roger B. Atkinson, born November 6, 1802; Jane Jones Atkinson, 
born March 11, 1805, married David Minges; Thomas Atkinson, born 
August 6, 1807; Agnes Atkinson, born January 26, 1810, who married 
George H. Burwell of Carter Hall, Clarke County, Va. , an engraving of 
which seat appears in this work; Robert A. Atkinson, born September 13, 
1812, who died a few years ago in Texas, where he was held in high 
esteem; Lucy Fitzhugh Atkinson, born March 31, 1815, married Rev. 
Churchill Gibson, D. D. , a distinguished minister of the Episcopal Church, 
of Petersburg, Va. , and they reside there; John Mayo Pleasant Atkinson, 
born January 10, 1817; Joseph M. Atkinson, born January 7, 1820, who 
now resides in Raleigh, N. C, and is pastor of the Presbyterian Church of 
that city. Of this large family only Lucy and Joseph are now living; it can 
be truly said of these eleven brothers and sisters that their lives and careers 
have been marked ones. All have lived in health and great strength of 
mind and body beyond the allotted period of three-score and ten years, ex- 
cept William M. , who died at the age of fifty-two years, and Roger B. , who 
died at the age of sixty years. They have all been married, all have raised 
large families of children and grandchildren, who have, without exception, 
reflected honor and credit upon their names and memories, and have risen 
up and called them blessed. They have been known universally through Vir- 
ginia, and have been in a singular manner blessed in their lives with the love 
and admiration of all classes of society in their day and generation. They, 
without exception, have been a devotedly religious family, all of them stand- 
ing out as bright and shining lights in their respective churches, and it may 
be truly said that it is probable there is not in this whole countr}^ so large a 
family whose record and standing is so absolutely without blot or blemish 
as is the case with this. Of the six sons four were prominent ministers of 
the gospel, to wit: William M. , Thomas, John M. P. and Joseph M. , 
while Roger and Robert were prominent laymen. Thomas Atkinson w^as 
made bishop of the Episcopal Church of North Carolina, and consecrated 
to that high office in St. John's Chapel. New York, October 17, 1853; the 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 561 

degree of doctor of divinity was conferred upon him by Trinity College, 
Hartford, and that of doctor of laws at Cambridge, England. He was a 
man of large brain and large heart, and he impressed all who saw him with 
his sincerity; he believed what he taught, and he practiced what he 
preached. As a pulpit orator he was distinguished for keen powers of 
analysis, sound logic and cogent reasoning. In early life he studied law 
in Winchester, as a member of Judge Tucker's law class, was a fellow stu- 
dent there with Henry A. Wise, late governor of Virginia, and practiced this 
profession for nine years, and had attained a prominent position at the bar 
when his mind turned to a sacred calling. He died at his home in Wil- 
mington, N. C. , January, 1881, in his seventy -fourth year, greatly mourned. 
His children are Dr. Robert Atkinson, of Baltimore City, Md. ; Col. John 
Wilder Atkinson, of Wilmington, N. C. , and Mary, the wife of the Rev. Hill- 
house Buell, of the Episcopal Church. 

John M. P. Atkinson was a scholar of rare cultivation and ability. He 
was a prominent and distinguished minister, of great influence in the 
Presbyterian Church in Virginia. He was a graduate of Hampden Sidney 
College, Virginia, and. of the Union Theological Seminary of Virginia, and 
afterward spent two years in Princeton Seminary, N. J. For a short 
time he filled the pulpit of one of the churches of this denomination in 
Winchester; he had conferred upon him the degrees of D. D. and LL. D. 
He was a man of strong convictions and with a spirit of determination to 
carry them out. After filling several important pulpits as pastor, he was 
elected to the office of president of Hampden Sidney college, a venerable and 
distinguished seat of learning in Southern Virginia, and accepted and 
entered upon the duties of this office in 1857, and discharged them with a 
zeal and energy which gave a new impetus to the institution, and improved 
its financial condition and its usefulness. At the outbreak of the war 
between the States, the students of the college organized themselves into a 
company, of which Dr. Atkinson was chosen captain, and they entered the 
Confederate service. Early in the war they were made prisoners by Gen. 
George B. McClellan, at Rich Mountain, in West Virginia. They were 
paroled, and Dr. Atkinson returned to his duties at the college, which he 
continued to discharge until his death, August 28, 1883. He was married 
three times, first to Betty Carr Harrison, daughter of Rev. Peyton Harrison; 
second, to Mary Briscoe Baldwin, daughter of Dr. Robei't T. Baldwin, of 
Winchester, Va., and third, to Fanny Stuart, daughter of the Hon. A. H. H. 
Stuart, of Staunton, Va. He left two children, both by his second wife: 
Bettie, wife of Archibald Owens, of Hiilifax County, Va., and Portia L., 
the widow of Rev. Alfred Morrison, who was a brother-in-law of Gen. T. J. 
Jackson (Stonewall Jackson). 

William Mayo Atkinson was the eldest of his father's family, who were 



562 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

eleven in number, and were left orphans while quite young; to some extent he 
exercised an oversight over the family, and he has been cherished in the 
most affectionate memory by all who survived him. He and his brothers 
and sisters were adopted by Mr. Thomas Atkinson, their father's brother, 
who had no children and ample means. He looked to the education of this 
large family, preserved their property, and treated them as a father, and 
was so treated by them; being a gentleman of property, at his death be 
left it to them. During this time William M. Atkinson was pursuing his 
studies at Princeton College, New Jersey, where he graduated with credit. 
He then studied law and was admitted to the bar, and practiced law success- 
fully in Petersburg and the surrounding counties. In July, 1821, when 
twenty-five years of age he married Rebecca Bassett Marsden, of Norfolk 
City, Va. , and by this marriage he left six children. In the year 1829, at a 
time when there was a great religious interest in Petersburg, he made a 
profession of religion and united with the Presbyterian Church under the 
charge of an eminent minister of that day, the Rev. B. H. Rice, D. D., 
for whom he entertained the highest veneration and warmest attachment. 
He was soon called by the church to the office of elder, and became more 
and more deeply interested in the work of the church, and served it with 
faithfulness and efficiency. It has been said of him: "His legal attainments 
and experience made him a useful member of the various church courts 
which he attended; his agreeable manners and cordial love of the brethren 
made him always welcome to the meetings of those bodies. While a 
layman he was remarkable for his enlarged and liberal views in reference 
to all of the affairs of the church, and was ever an able advocate and an 
active friend of all the great benevolent objects of the day. After having 
remained for more than ten years in the practice of the legal profession, he 
determined to devote the remainder of his life to the work of the gospel 
ministry. It must have been from a profound sense of duty, and an earnest 
desire to give himself wholly to the work of the Lord, that he was induced, 
at near forty years of age, with a large family of young children, to give 
up a lucrative profession and enter the ministry." In 1833 he was licensed 
to preach, and he readily gave his time, money and health to the work of the 
church, and for a tima he devotad his energies mora espacially to the 
interests of the work of the Virginia Bible Society. It was said of him that 
he was the most universally acceptable and the most successful agent the 
society had ever had in that day, and he traversed the whole State of 
Virginia and parts of the South for the purpose of raising funds for the 
distribution of the Bible, in which cause he proved successful, his social 
habits and gentlemanly manners, cultivated mind and earnestness espe- 
cially qualifying him for this work. In the year 1838 he accepted a call to 
the Presbyterian Church in Winchester, Va. , and he removed here with his 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 563 

family; he very soon established himself in the hearts of the people, and won 
their respect and confidence. For seven years he occupied the pulpit of this 
church with great acceptance. At this period there were serious differences 
of opinion prevailing, and some embittered controversy in the Presby- 
terian Church in Winchester, which had resulted in a division of the church. 
Dr. William H. Foote, in his sketches of Virginia, in speaking of Dr. 
Atkinson, has said, page 552, " There were embittering circumstances attend- 
ing the division of the Winchester Presbytery. That there were no more, 
was probably owing to the influence of one, who came into the Presbytery 
in the midst of the excitement and used all his great capabilities in making 
less * * * the distresses of a division which all believed to be at the time 
necessary for the public peace." This was a trying field of labor at this 
time, but his disposition, manners, means, culture, experience and age 
especially qualified Dr. Atkinson for the work, which he prosecuted here 
faithfully and laboriously for seven years, until at length, identified as he 
had been with the troublous times of the church, he preferred to resign his 
pastoral charge, which he did in the spring of 1846, and engaged actively 
as the agent of the General Assembly's Board of Education for the southern 
and western states, in which service he labored for more than two years 
with great zeal. 

On the 24th of June 1844, the present beautiful " Mount Hebron Ceme- 
tery," at Winchester was dedicated, with impressive and extensive religious 
and other services in the presence of a large assemblage. Upon this occa- 
sion Dr. William M. Atkinson offered the dedicatory prayer, which has been 
published and it is preserved with the proceedings of the day. It is a rare 
and beautiful gem and worthy of perusal. In August, 1844, the wife of 
Dr. Atkinson {nee Rebecca Marsden) died, and she was the first person 
whose remains were interred in this cemetery, now so full of the graves of 
young and old. Subsequently he married Bettie J. White, a daughter of 
Robert B. and Elizabeth White, and a grand-daughter of Judge Robert 
White, a notice of whom appears herein; he continued to reside in Win- 
chester, and was the center of a large circle of admiring friends, and the 
head of a devoted family. He continued to prosecute with vigor the work 
of the Board of Edu.cation and to project some new plan of labor, and he 
had arranged to act as agent for the Oglethorpe University, in the bounds of 
the Synod of Georgia, when he began to show symptoms of declining health. 
He was of an unusually vigorous constitution, but under the impulse of duty 
and its conscientious discharge, he had imprudently exposed himself to 
colds, and the consequence was a complication of disorders, which, after 
some months, ended in his death, which was as beautiful as his life, and 
marked by perfect resignation, as folding his hands and closing his eyes, 
he said: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," and passed from time to eternity, 



564 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

on the 27th of February, 1849. Dr. Beverly T. Lacy, upon the occa- 
sion of the death of his friend, preached a most beautiful and effective ser- 
mon which has been published, but its length precludes any quotation from 
it. Dr. Atkinson is buried in Mount Hebron Cemetery. His widow still 
resides at Winchester. Of his children, Rebecca, a lovely Christian woman, 
is dead; she lived long enough to exhibit the bright, happy, generous and 
pure character of a noble woman. His son, Brodnax, settled first in Balti- 
more and then in New York; he married twice, each time aMif!^s Purviance, 
who were first cousins and members of the well-known Maryland family of 
that name. He died a few years ago, leaving a widow and two sons— Pur- 
viance, who is pursuing his studies at Princeton College, and William, who 
is quite young. He was a good and true man, and held a position of trust 
and responsibility, at the time of his death, in the establishment of A. T. 
Stewart & Co., New York; his daughter Mary married the Rev. Warren B. 
Dutton, D. D. , who was an able and influential minister of the Presbyterian 
Chu?-ch, and lived and died at Charlestown, Jefferson County, W. Va. She 
is now living there. Eliza married Van Lear Perry, M. D. , who soon died, leav- 
ing one son, who is studying medicine, and they live in Charlestown also. 
Cary resides in Charlestown and is unmarried, and Ann Pleasants married 
the Rev. A. C. Hopkins, D. D. , now pastor of the Presbyterian Church in 
Charlestown, W. Va. , a successful and popular minister, a man qf great 
influence and high standing in his community, in the church and among a 
large class of people in Virginia, and is well known as the courageous chap- 
lain of the Second Virginia Regiment of the Stonewall brigade. They have 
seven children: Laurens, Abner, William and John, all promising young 
men, and three daughters, Mary, Amelia and Ann Pleasants. The two other 
children of Dr. Atkinson were by his second marriage; they both reside in 
Winchester, Va. ; Juliet married T. D. McCaw, Esq., of Lexington, Ky. , 
who lived but a short time. She has two sons, John Atkinson McCaw and 
Thomas De Gratfenreid McCaw, the former now living in New York, and 
the latter now in Winchester. 

William Mayo Atkinson was his father's youngest child, and was born 
October 14, 1848, and was but four months old when his father, Dr. Atkin- 
son, died; he is now living in Winchester, engaged in the practice of law\ 
He graduated at Hampden Sidney College, in June, 1870, taught school the 
ensuing year, and in 1871-72 studied law at the University of Virginia. In 
1873 he began the practice of law in Winchester, and in 1874 was elected 
commonwealth's attorney for the city, to which office he was elected for 
three successive terms. In 1880 he was elected recorder, and in 1888 he was 
elected mayor of the city, which office he now holds. July 17, 1884, he mar- 
ried Mrs. C. C. Trenholm, a daughter of the Hon. Campbell R. Bryce, de- 
ceased, of Columbia, S. C, and the widow of Alfred G. Trenholm, deceased, 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 565 

a son of the Hon. George A. Trenholm, deceased, of Charleston, S. C, a 
member of the cabinet of Hon. Jefferson Davis, as the secretary of the 
treasury of the Confederate States. They have one child, William Mayo 
Atkinson, Jr., who was born January 3, 1889. 

Judge Robert White and Family. The earliest record we have of the 
White family, which is the subject of this sketch, commenced with Dr. 
Robert White. The exact date of his emigration to America is not known, 
but it is believed to have been about the year 1720. He was born in Scot- 
land in the year 1688, and graduated at Edinburgh, studied medicine and 
became a surgeon in the British navy, which position was held by him for 
some years. When and why he left this service cannot now be authentically 
stated; there is a tradition, however, that he resisfned on account of havinor 
been engaged in a duel with a British officer. While still in the service he 
came to America, and visited the house and home of William Hoge, the pro- 
genitor of the now well-known and distinguished Hoge family of Virginia, 
who then lived in Delaware. William Hoge had left Scotland when quite a 
youth, in company with other emigrants, among whom was a family by the 
name of Hume; the father and mother died at sea, an^ left a daughter, an 
only child. 

Young Hoge took charge of the young Miss Hume (then a child), and, 
after arriving in this country, delivered her to the care of a Dr. Johnston, 
a family connection. In course of time William Hoge married this Miss 
Hume, and when Dr. Robert White visited the family of William Hoge, he 
met, wooed and won their eldest daughter, Margaret Hoge, and here most 
probably is to be found the true solution of his resignation from the British 
navy. About the year 1735, William Hoge, then an old man, removed 
with his children to Frederick County, Va. (which county was not formed 
as such until 1738), and was accompanied by Dr. Ro]>3rt White and his 
wife and children. 

Dr. Robert White died in 1752, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. He 
left surviving him three sons — John, Robert and Alexander. Robert inherited 
his father's home, where he lived and died. Alexander was sent to Scat- 
laud, attended college at Edinburgh, studied law, and then returning, be- 
came a lawyer of great prominence in this section of the country, during 
and after the Revolutionary War. He was a member of the first Congress 
of the United States, 1789-93, and of the convention of Virginia, composed 
as it was of the most brilliant men of that day, which adopted the Federal 
constitution, and also of the State Legislature at various times. In 1796 he 
married a sister of the Hon. James Wood, governor of Virginia. They had 
no children, and he is buried at the old Wood estate near Winchester. 

John was a man of influence and distinction in this section of the coun- 
try, and was a member of the first bench of magistrates in Frederick County, 



566 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

and he took the oath of office with Morgan Morgan, and six others, on Tues- 
day, the 14th day of November, 1743, and they held the first meeting of 
this court. To John White was born Robert White, on the 29th day of 
March, 1759, near Winchester. He became the most distinguished member 
of the family, and became judge of the general court of Virginia, and its 
president, and no history of the Lower Shenandoah Valley would be com 
plete which did not contain more than a passing mention of Judge Robert 
White. He was educated in Pennsylvania, but his studies were early inter- 
rupted by the unsettled condition of the country at that period, and we fiad 
him volunteering as a private in 1775, in a company formed in Jefferson 
County, and commanded by Capt. Hugh Stephenson, and with this com- 
pany, on the 20th of June, 1775, he set out from Morgan's Springs to face 
the dangers of the struggle for independence, a few days in advance, it would 
seem, of Daniel Morgan and his company from Winchester. They made the 
long and perilous march to Boston, to the reinforcement of Washington, and 
to its relief. A biographer writing of him at this stage of his career, in the 
Southern Literary Messenger, says: " Engaging with youthful ardor and zeal 
in the various and eventful scenes of that well conducted enterprise, he soon 
arrested the attention of the commander in chief by his chivalric bearing. 
His discerning eye saw in the boy the germ of that remarkable decision of 
character, which in after years sustained him in numberless appalling 
trials." He entered Boston with Washington upon its evacuation, and, 
'' following the standard of his country he shared the dangers and sufferings 
of a disastrous campaign of the following summer, when he was made the 
ensign." In the fall of 1777 he was at Germantown, and on the 4th of 
October he fought there as lieutenant under Maj. William Darke, of Berke- 
ley County, Va. , and he often told how he saw Darke aim a fatal shot at a 
young British officer, who was encouraging his troops by his example, to 
advance upon the Americans. When he fell Darke's cool remark was: 
" White, I have given that fellow his tobacco." Continuing in the service 
during the winter and spring of 1778, he rendered valuable aid by being 
constantly employed in harassing detached parties of the enemy, and pro- 
tecting the main body of the army from surprise and loss. The same writer 
says: "During one of these perilous partisan enterprises, in the month of 
June of this year, at Short Hill, N. J. , in the act of crossing a fence, his 
thigh bone was broken by a musket ball, and nearly at the same moment he 
received another wound in the head, from a British grenadier, with the butt 
of his musket. He fell senseless to the earth, bleeding profusely. He 
found himself, when somewhat recovered, a prisoner of war, in the tent of 
an amiable and accomplished officer, who had rescued him from death, and 
who now treated him with distinguished humanity and politeness. In the 
autumn, after beinsf exchanged, he at last reached Winchester, bv slow and 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 567 

painful eflPorts, exceedingly lame, weak and emaciated by acute and pro- 
tracted suffering. The patriotism of White, elevating him above the severe 
torments he endured, urged him again "once more to the breech," before 
his wounds were sufficiently healed. In 1779 he was commissioned captain 
of cavalry. For some time he was employed recruiting and training his 
troops in Philadelphia, but was compelled, from bodily inability, to retire 
from the service. He was now but twenty years of age, and, returning to 
Winchester, he began the study of law, under the guidance of his uncle, 
Alexander White, to ^hom reference is above made. He suffered greatly 
from the effects of his wounds and exposure, and during the greater part of 
the three years of preparation for the bar, he spent his time reclining or 
propped up. In December, 1782, he appeared and was admitted to the 
bar at Winchester; his health improved, and he enjoyed an extensive and 
profitable practice. He is described as an "able lawyer, clear and cogent 
in argument," and for ten years he held an eminent position at the bar, 
■during which period he was frequently elected to represent Frederick 
County in the Legislature, and he enjoyed a high reputation among some 
of the most prominent men of the commonwealth, with whom he was asso- 
ciated. On the 16th of November, 1793, he was appointed judge of the 
general court of Virginia, which office he held until his death, which occurred 
in March, 1831, and until the year 1825 he attended at Richmond, in June 
and November of each year, the sittings of his court, and also during the 
year attended and presided at his courts in the five counties of which the 
tenth judicial district was composed, extending over this whole section of 
the country. 

It is said of him, "As a nisi prius judge he had no superior in the 
United States. Prompt, energetic, firm and resolute, he always commanded 
the profound respect of all who entered his court. His reported opinions 
in the case of Myers, who was tried for murder, and Preston's case, on the 
question of estoppel, are universally acknowledged to be powerful specimens 
of sound learning and extensive research. When Judge White was in the 
social circle the sternness of his character was thrown aside, and the soft, 
insinuating manner of the polished cavalier made him the delight and admi- 
ration of all. He kept on in his high career of usefulness to the commu 
nity until the spring of 1825, when, in going to court in Loudoun county, 
he halted for the night at a tavern on the bank of the Shenandoah. He 
retired to his room at an early hour and was found by the landlord, at bed- 
time, sitting by the fireside, stricken with paralysis. He remained in this 
situation for several weeks, and was then borne on a litter to Winchester." 
He never recovered, and, after lingering until the year 1827, died, mourned 
by his family, the community and the State. Judge White married Ara- 
bella Baker, who was the daughter of John Baker, a prominent man in his 



568 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

day, who resided near Shepherdstown, Jefferson County, now West Virginia. 
His wife was Judith Wood, the daughter of Judith Howard Wood, who was 
the daughter of Lady Judith Howard, of Howard Hall, England; There 
is a letter in the family dated July, 1745, written from Howard Hall. There 
is a large family connection through this Baker branch of the family. Mrs. 
Judge White had one brother, John Baker, who was a member of the United 
States Congress of 1811-13, and who was the father of Ann Gilmer, wife 
of Thomas W. Gilmer, member of United States Congress, governor of 
Virginia in 1840 and secretary of the navy of the United States in 1843; 
whose family reside in the neighborhood of Charlottesville, Va. Mrs. Ann 
Baker, the wife of John Baker, was on board the tirst boat propelled by 
steam by James Rumsey at Shepherdstown, on the Potomac River in 1787. 
Mrs. Judge White had several sisters who married respectively a Tapscott, 
Walters, Hite and Lyle, from whom large and respectable families have 
sprung. An aunt of Mrs. Judge White married Col. Briscoe, a prominent 
and distinguished citizen of Jefferson County, and she was the mother of 
Mrs. Dr. Baldwin and Mrs. Judge Hugh Holmes, of Winchester, and of 
the wife of Judge Stewart, of Staunton, who was the mother of the Hon. 
A. H. H. Stewart, now residing there at an advanced age, and who was a 
member of the United States Congress of 1841-43, and of Millard Fill- 
more's cabinet. 

Judge White left three children: Juliet, who married a Mr. Opie, of a 
well known and aristocratic family, and who died without issue, and John 
Baker White, who moved to Romney in early life, and was held in high 
esteem by the people of Hampshire County, and by all who knew him for 
many years and until his death, which occurred in Richmond during the 
war. He was successively elected clerk of the courts of Hampshire County, 
and was a man of high and honorable position, raising a large and credita- 
ble family; two of his sons are now practicing law, and one of them, 
Robert White, was recently attorney-general of West Virginia. The other 
son of Judge White was Robert Baker White, who settled in Winchester, 
was a well-known lawyer and clerk of what is now the circuit court. He 
died early in life. He married Elizabeth Kean on the 19th day of October, 
1809. She was the daughter of John Kean, a wealthy Irishman, who emi- 
grated to this country about the year 1770. On the lOtli of October, 
1781, John Kean married Nancy Hunter, a daughter of Col. David Hunter, 
and a sister of the wife of Joseph Holmes, with whom he was connected in 
mercantile business in Winchester during the Revolutionary War. He died 
at this place August 13, 1801, aged forty-three years, and Nancy, his wife, 
died at the age of seventy-two years April 1, 1835. There were three chil- 
dren of this marria'ge: Joseph Kean was a distinguished officer in the 
United States Army in the AVar of 1812, commanding a regiment of cavalry 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 569 

upon the northwestern frontier. He was engaged in numerous battles with 
the enemy, and for some time was stationed at Mackinaw, Mich. ; he 
returned to Winchester after the war, and was clerk of the circuit court of 
Frederick County for many years, and died at the age of seventy five years 
in 1862, in Winchester, never having been married; Nancy Kean married, 
on the 16th of May, 1815, the Hon. Alfred H. Powell, member of Congress 
from this district in 1825-27, a learned lawyer and distinguished citizen of 
Winchester, who was stricken with paralysis while arguing a case before the 
court; Mrs. Powell died on the 22d of September, 1835, in the thirty-second 
year of her age. and left one son, who died, as his father had done, from a 
stroke of paralysis just after he was admitted to the bar. The other child 
of John Kean, a daughter, was Elizabeth, who, as above stated, married 
Robert B. White, and who of John Kean's children alone left descendants, 
and through whose marriage a number of well-known families of this sec- 
tion of the country have become connected with the branch of the White 
family descending from Robert B. White and his wife Elizabeth (she being 
the niece of Joseph Holmes' wife and first cousin to his children), to wit: 
the Hunters, Holmeses, Tuckers, McGuires, Conrads, Boyds, McCormicks, 
Powells, Faulkners, Mosses, Johnstons, Mortons, Mackeys, Tidballs and 
others; the ramifications of these families are extensive, but they are com- 
posed of the representative people of Virginia to-day. 

Robert B. and Elizabeth White are both dead, the latter, living to the 
age of eighty-three years, died in June, 1870. Their children were: 
Alfred P., an accomplished and successful lawyer, but cut down by a 
stroke of paralysis in the prime of life, he has been a great sufferer, and 
has been compelled to retire from active work, he is unmarried and has no 
children; Robert B. White, D. D., is a distinguished minister, in the Pres- 
byterian Church, of learning and research, and is the author of ''Reason 
and Redemption," a theological work of great merit, and has one son, an 
active Presbyterian minister — Rev. W. D. White. John K. White has been 
an active merchant and business man in Baltimore, Md., for forty years, has 
now retired, and has an interesting family of four children and several grand- 
children. The only daughter of Robert and Elizabeth White who married 
and had children was Bettie J. She married Rev. William Mayo Atkinson, 
D. D. , a distinguished minister of the Presbyterian Church, an accomplished 
gentleman, a finished scholar, of an old and well-known family of Virginia, 
whose personal and intellectual character was admired and honored through- 
out this community and the State, a more extended notice of whom appears 
herein. His widow, who was Bettie J. White, is still living in Winchester, 
Va., with her two children. William Mayo Atkinson, who is at present mayor 
of the city, and Mrs. Juliet A. McCaw, the widow of the late T. D. McCaw. 
There were three other daughters of Robert Baker White, to wit: Arabella 



570 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

B. , who married Robert T. Luckett, of Loudoun County. Va. , on November 
17, 1837, and died in June, 1866, without issue; Nancy Hunter White, who 
died unmarried in 1859, and Juliet Opie White, who is unmarried and now 
living in Winchester, Va. 

Page Family. The Pages of Clarke County are descendants of John 
Page, of Williamsburg, who came from England to Virginia between 1640 
and 1645, and died in Williamsburg in 1692. He left one son, who left 
male issue, Col. Matthew Page, of Rosewell, Gloucester County, Va. , who 
•died in Rosewell in 1763. His only surviving son, Manu Page, of Rosewell, 
left three sons, from whom it is believed that all persons of the name in 
Virginia are descended. He died at Rosewell January 24, 1730, leaving 
three sons: Mann Page, of Rosewell; John Page, of North End, Hanover 
County, Va. , and Robert Page, of Broadneck, Hanover County. The eld- 
est, Mann Page, was the father of Gov. John Page, of Virginia, the same 
who has lately been credited, in certain Northern magazines, with having 
spent his estate in the public service during the Revolution, the only compen- 
sation in profit or reputation which he or his descendants have ever received. 
Mr. Mann Page left many other children, many of his descendants now liv- 
ing in Clarke County, but of them only one bears his name, Mr. Archibald 
Carey Page, a bachelor, not alive to the charms of the feminine sex, but 
who did his duty well as a member of the Clarke County cavalry during the 
late war between the States. Mann Page, of Fairfield, Clarke County, Va. , 
eldest son of John Page, of North End, was probably the first of the name 
who came to the Valley of Virginia. His only son, William Byrd Page, 
married a sister of Gen. Henry Lee, and his relative, the writer, records 
with honest pride that he was the uncle, by marriage, of Gen. Robert E. 
Lee. His third son, Mann Randolph Page, was an honored citizen of 
Clarke County until about the year 1872. Two sons of his still reside in 
the county, and two daughters. The sons are George R. Page and William 
Byrd Page, both now residents of Clarke County. Robert Page, of Jane- 
ville, Clarke County, fifth son of John Page, of North End, came to the Val- 
ley before the beginning of the present century. He left many children, 
but it is believed that none of them nor any descendants of any of them now 
live in the county. Two sons of Robert Page, of Broadneck, moved to the 
Valley of Virginia about the year 1784. They were John Page, of Page- 
brooke, Clarke County, and Matthew Page, of Anntield, of the same county. 
The latter left no male issue, and only one of his descendants, a grand- 
daughter, now lives in the county. The former left a large family. The 
old homestead, Pagebrooke, is now owned by his grandson, Herbert Page, 
of Edenton, N. C. , whose family occupy it as a summer residence. Mr. R. 
Powell Page, of Saratoga, is the only son of Dr. Robert Powell Page, sec- 
ond cousin of John Page, of Pagebrooke. John Y. Page and Dr. Robert 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 571 

P. Page, of Berryville, are the sons of the late Judge John E. Page, third 
son of John Page, of Pagebrooke. Two sisters of these, living at Millwood,, 
and two grand-daughters of William ByrdPage, eldest son of John, of Page- 
brooke, and so his great-grand-daughters, with the males above named, ar& 
all of his descendants bearing his name, now residents of the county, ex- 
cept, of course, the children of such of them as have families. A nephew 
of John Page and Matthew Page, John White Page, of Whitehall, Clarke 
County, also settled in the Valley. He was for many years an active mem- 
ber of the old magistrates court, and was well known and highly esteemed. 
It is believed that no descendants of his now reside in Clarke County. Of 
course these men and women have many relatives bearing other names, 
principally, Byrd, Burwell, Nelson, Harrison, Lee, Carter, McGuire, Whit- 
ing, etc. , with whose ancestors their ancestors lived and intermarried in 
colonial times, with whom they triumphed in the American Revolution, and 
with whom they sustained defeat and disaster, much to be regretted, bat 
not to be ashamed of, in their attempt to free Virginia from lawless in- 
vaders. 

The Conrad Family. The progenitor of this family, in America, emi- 
grated to this country, and settled in Pennsylvania, about 1730. But little 
is known of his descendants except those who descended from his son, Fred- 
erick Conrad, who was born July 28, 1723, in Baumholden, in the Duchy 
of Zweibrugen, and was married in Winchester, Va., by the Rev. Charles 
Mynn Thruston, to Marie Clare Ley. Of this marriage were born: Freder- 
ick Conrad, who married a daughter of the Rev. Charles Mynn Thruston 
and moved to Louisiana— of this marriage there are numerous descendants 
now living; John Conrad, who married a daughter of Col. Rutherford, of 
Jefferson County, Va., now West Virginia; Katherine Conrad, who married a 
Mr. Groverman; Elizabeth Conrad, who married Gen. Robert Young, of 
Alexandria, Va. ; Edward Conrad, who married Heriot, a daughter of Gen. 
Daniel Roberdeau — of this marriage were born two sons, James R. Conrad, 
a surgeon in the United States Army, and Daniel Conrad, a physician, who 
lived and died at Winchester; Daniel Conrad, a physician, born October 6, 
1771, a graduate of the medical schools of Edinburgh and London, mar- 
ried Rebecca, a daughter of Col. Joseph Holmes, of Frederick County, and 
died in 1806, leaving two sons, viz. : David Holmes Conrad, born January 
15, 1800, a lawyer, conspicuous in the councils of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, and avxthor of several biographies. His two sons. Holmes Addison, 
a graduate of the University of Virginia, and Henry Tucker, a student in the 
Episcopal Theological Seminary at Alexandria, were both privates in the 
Second Regiment, Virginia Infantry, of the Confederate Army, and were 
both killed by the same volley, in the charge of the Stonewall brigade, at 
the battle of Manassas, July 21, 1861. His wife was Nancy Addison, a. 



572 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

daugbter of Dabney Carr, a judge of the supreme court of appeals of Vir- 
ginia. Robert Young Conrad, the second son of Daniel Conrad, was a lawyer 
of distinction, born December 5, 1805, educated at the Winchester Academy, 
and at the United States Military Academy at West Point, but resigned be- 
fore graduating. He was prominent in the conventions of the old whig 
party, and strongly opposed the secession of Virginia from the Union. He 
was a member of the constitutional convention of Virginia, in 1860, and 
chairman of its committee of Federal relations. A Union man in principle 
and strenuously opposed to the passage of the ordinance of secession, he yet 
recognized that his paramount duty and allegiance was to the commonwealth, 
and he yielded to her cause thenceforth his hearty co-operation and support. 
Returning to his home in Winchester, after the adjournment of the conven- 
tion, he remained there during the period of the war. steadily refusing to 
recognize the control which the Federal authorities sought to exercise over 
the non-combatants, in the regions of Virginia occupied by their armies. 
He declined to take any of the oaths which were tendered to him, and for 
this was repeatedly taken from his home and confined in Federal pi'isons, and 
on one occasion was seized, and with Rev. A. H. H. Boyd and Mr. Philip 
Williams, of Winchester, was incarcerated in the jail in Wheeling, and held 
as hostage for certain citizens of West Virginia, who had been taken by the 
Confederate authorities. After the close of the war he resumed the prac- 
tice of his profession, and when, under the act of Congress, the restoration 
of their political and civil rights to the people of Virginia was conditioned 
upon their accepting the constitution framed by an alien and hostile conven- 
tion, and their ratifying the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the 
Federal Constitution, Mr. Conrad, by public speeches and addresses, earn- 
estly advised against the acceptance of the conditions on the ground of their 
manifest injustice and unconstitutionality. He was elected to Congress in 
1865 from this district, then embracing many counties east of the Blue Ridge, 
but was not allowed to take his seat, or have his name placed upon the roll 
of the House, under a rule of exclusion which was arbitrarily applied by that 
House to all representatives from the Southern States. Mr. Conrad held no 
political office during his life, but in 1840 he represented for one term, in 
the Senate of Virginia, this district, then composed of the counties of Fred- 
erick, Clarke and JefFerson. He married Elizabeth Whiting, daughter of 
id(>\> "^J^J. tie^xiA Powell, of Loudoun County, and of this union were l)orn: Daniel 
Burr Conrad, a physician, who was a surgeon in the United States Navy, 
surgeon in the Confederate States Navy, and superintendent of the Central 
Lunatic Asylum, and of the Western Lunatic Asylum of Vii-ginia; Powell 
Conrad, a lawyer, who was in the engineer department of the Confederate 
States Army, and died in 1862; Katherine B. Conrad, who resides in Win- 
chester; Robert Y. Conrad, Jr., a graduate of the University of Virginia, 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 573 

who died in 1857, while preparing to enter the theological seminary; 
Holmes Conrad, a lawyer, educated at the University of Virginia, entered 
the Confederate Army as a private in Company A, First Virginia Cavalry, 
was first sergeant until 18G2, then adjutant of the Eleventh Virginia Cav- 
alry until 1804, then major and assistant inspector-general of liosser's Cav- 
alry Division. He represented the county in the House of Delegates in the 
session of 1881-82, and was for twelve years a member of the board of vis- 
itors of the University of Virginia; Sally Harrison, who married Dr. A. M. 
Fauntleroy, a surgeon in the United States Army, and in the Confederate 
States Army, serving on the staff of Gen. Joseph E. JohnstoA, and after the 
war was superintendent of the Western Lunatic Asylum of Virginia; Charles 
Frederick Conrad, civil engineer, served during the war as a private in the 
Eleventh Virginia Cavalry, and after the war in the service of the Lehigh 
Valley Railroad Company, and subsequently an inspector of surveys in the 
land department of the United States Government; Frank E. Conrad, a 
lawyer and civil engineer, served as a private in Chew's Battery of the Con- 
federate Army, and since the war has practiced his profession in Loudoun 
County, and as civil engineer in Alabama, Pennsylvania, and Virginia; 
Cuthbert Powell Conrad, educated at the University of Virginia, where he 
received the degree of Master of Arts, was professor in the Arkansas Uni- 
versity, now engaged in business in Kansas City, Mo. 

Holmes Family. The first of this family in America was Joseph Holmes, 
who was the son of Hugh Holmes, and was born August 22, 1 74(), in Lon- 
donderry, parish of Bally Kelly, Kingdom of Ireland. His father was a 
farmer, owning 400 acres of land. Joseph married Rebecca, the daughter 
of David and Rebecca Hnuter, of York County. Penn. The children of 
this marriage were: Hugh Holmes, who was born in York County, Penn., 
November 8, 1768, was a lawyer, and became judge of the general court 
of Virginia, and died in Winchester, Va. , about 182G; David Holmes, 
who was born in York County, Penn., March 10, 1770, was a lawyer, be- 
came governor, afterward United States senator from the State of Missis- 
sippi, and died at Jordan's White Sulphur Springs, in Frederick County, Va., 
in 1831; Elizabeth Holmes, born in Frederick County, Va., May 25, 1777. 
and married Edward McGuire, of Winchester; Rebecca Holmes. l)orn in 
Frederick County, Va. , March 21, 1779, married Dr. Daniel Conrad, of 
Winchester, died January 2, 1833, and of this marriage were born David 
Holmes Conrad and Robert Young Conrad; Nancy Holmes, who married 
Gen. Elisha Boyd, of Martinsburg (of this marriage were born Ann, wife 
of Humphrey B. Powell, of Loudoun County, Va. ; Mary, wife of Charles 
Jatues Faulkner, of Martinsburg; John E. Boyd, of Berkeley County, and 
the Rev. A. H. H. Boyd, D. D., of Winchester); Gertrude Holmes, who 
married William Moss, of Fairfax county (of this marriage were born Ann 



574 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Eliza, who married Hugh H. McGuire, M. D., of Winchester; Rebecca J. 
who married Morgan Johnston, of Alexandria; Evelina, who married Judge 
Richard Parker, of Winchester; Nancy, who married William D. McGuire, 
M. D. , of Clarke County; Gertrude, who married William Stephenson; John 
Moss and Horace Moss); Andrew Hunter Holmes, who was a lawyer, in New 
Orleans, entered the United States Army in 1812, rose to the rank of major, 
and was killed in the attack on Mackinaw in 1814. The Legislature of Vir- 
ginia voted to his nearest male relative a sword, which by the direction of 
Gov. Holmes was given to the Rev. A. H. H. Boyd. 

Mrs. M. a. Butterfield, the eldest daughter of David Hume and Sa- 
rah Griffin Allen, was born at the residence of her father, "Clifton," in 
Clarke County, Va. , then noted as one of the handsomest places in the Shen- 
andoah Valley. Its terraced grounds, gay with shrubbery and flowers, its 
magnificent view of the valley, lake and mountain, and its old-time bound- 
less hospitality, combined to render it the resort of the best society of the 
state. Mrs. Butterfield's education, obtained largely at Miss English's 
school in Georgetown, was completed at Madame Segoine's in Philadelphia. 
Her grandfather. Col. Thomas Allen, a soldier of the Revolution, was pre- 
sented with a sword "for gallant services '' by the State of Virginia. Her 
maternal grandfather. Col. Griffin Taylor, married Mary Kennon (the Mc- 
Kennons having dropped the Mc in the lapse of time), whose sister married 
Thomas Marshall, brother of the chief justice. The history of the McKen- 
nons is somewhat romantic and is as follows: some two hundred years ago 
there was in Scotland a young scion of a noble family. Lady Anne Maitland. 
an orphan, and consequently a ward of the king. Between the young lady 
and the Laird McKennon, of Skye, there sprang up a matual attachment, 
but meeting with opposition from her guardian, they were secretly married 
and tied to Virginia. After some years they conckided to return to Scotland 
to recover their property, leaving their two sons until their return. Bat the 
vessel on which they sailed foundered in a storm and all on board perished. 
Mary Kennon was a lineal descendant in the third generation from one of 
these sons. The McKennons as a clan are of considerable antiquity, tracing 
their descent from King Alpin of the ninth century. A remote ancestor was 
knighted for saving the life of his king by killing a wild boar as it rushed 
upon him, and was assigned a coat-of-arms — a boar's head, bearing in its 
jaws two cross bones. 

Mary Allen married Colonel, afterward General Carlos Butterfield, who 
after spending three years of his early life in Cuba as an engineer — making 
railroads and other improvements — had accepted a position on the staff of 
Santa Anna, President of Mexico, and was by him employed in many impor- 
tant and confidential matters, receiving marked proofs of his esteem and con- 
fidence. (See life of Gen. Butterfield published by Wm. H. Shaw in 1879.) 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 575 

With President Arista he contioued on the same intimate and confidential 
terms. After a mission to Europe on diplomatic and financial business. Gen- 
eral Butterfield was commissioned by him to repair to the United States and 
have constructed ei^ht revenue cutters and men-of-war, and to purchase 
large supplies of arms and other munitions for the army and navy of Mex- 
ico. These were mostly paid for from his own private means, as the Mex- 
ican treasury was at a low ebb. It was during this period that he met and 
married Miss Mary Allen, who returned with him to live in the city of Mex- 
ico. Among the presents received at the wedding were some handsome and 
valuable ones from President Arista, among them a brilliant diamond maltese 
cross, and a handsome life-size bust of himself, now in the hall at Clifton. 
When Santa Anna returned from banishment, and again became president, 
he sent Gen. Butterfield to Washington to efPect the ratification of an impor- 
tant treaty, which was successfully accomplished. In 1857 he was again sent 
to Washington to negotiate an important treaty by President Comonfort, 
and it was while staying at the '" National Hotel " that he nearly became a 
victim to the mysterious epidemic, supposed to be from poison, by which 
many of its guests were prostrated and from which he never entirely recov- 
ered. Among the many advantages to the commerce and agriculture of the 
Mexican and Central American republics. Gen. Butterfield organized and 
obtained a charter for a company to establish a weekly line of steamers from 
Vera Cruz to make the circuit of the Gulf, touching at all the principal 
ports. But this scheme was frustrated by the French invasion of Mexico 
and the civil war that ensued. He died in Washington in 1880, leaving 
heavy claims against Mexico for services rendered and money loaned, and 
against Denmark for seizing a vessel with a cargo of arms on its way to Mex- 
ico, which his widow has striven in vain to collect. While waiting "like 
patience on a monument" for some realization of her dream of wealth, she 
continues to reside at Clifton, the residence of her brother, Edgar Allen. 

Ex-Gov. Fredebick W. M. Holliday. was born in Winchester Fred- 
erick County, Va., February 22, 1828. His parents were R. J. McK. and 
Mary Catherine Holliday, nee Taylor. Dr. Holliday' s skill in his profes- 
sion was so marked, and his life and character so pure and gentle and re- 
fined, as to well deserve the name of " the good physician." Mrs. Holliday 
was remarkably handsome, with strong sense, and of great force and eleva- 
tion of character. They died within a short time of each other, at the ad- 
vanced age of four-score years. 

His paternal grandfather, William Holliday, came from the North of 
Ireland with his parents at the age of fourteen. They settled in Pennsyl- 
vania. He afterward located in Winchester, and there permanently lived. 
He married Mrs. Blair, nee Duncan, of Philadelphia. William Holliday 
became a prominent merchant of Winchester. 



576 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Gov. Holliday's maternal grandfather, Dr. Samuel Taylor, was born 
near Dover, Del., and was descended from Robert Taylor, who emigrated 
from England, and settled in Delaware County, Penn., in 1685. He studied 
under Dr. Craik, the friend and family physician of Washington, in Alexan- 
dria, Va. , completed his education in Philadelphia and settled in Berry ville, 
then Frederick, now Clarke County, Va., in 1797; was surgeon in the War 
of 1812, married Catherine, a daughter of Dr. Robert Mackey of Win- 
chester, who was the mother of Mary Catherine, the mother of Gov. Hol- 
liday. 

His maternal great-grandfather. Dr. Robert Mackey, was a surgeon in 
the war of the Revolution, and at its close located at Winchester, took high 
rank as a man and a physician, and was the ancestor of several prominent 
families, both here and in other parts of the State. 

Gov. Holliday married Hannah Taylor, daughter of Thomas McCormick 
of Clarke County, Va., in 1868. She lived but a short time and left no is- 
sue. In 1871 he married Caroline Calvert, daughter of Dr. Richard H. 
Stuart, of King George County, Va. She also died and left an infant that 
survived her only a few weeks. 

Gov. Holliday's early life was spent at his home, and his preparation for 
college made at its academy. His robust physique, and active mind and 
temperament when a boy, led him at times into boyish mischief, and occa- 
sionally into rebellion against his teachers. This was promptly checked by 
his parents and his own sense of duty and honor. He, however, at that 
age stood well in his classes. In his fifteenth year he began to show a taste 
for books and study, and give promises of outcome in that direction. After 
being fitted for college by the Rev. J. Jones Smyth, a graduate of Dublin, 
he went to Yale, entered the junior class and graduated with high honors 
in 1847. 

After his return he began the study of law in Winchester in the of- 
fice of Messrs. Barton & Williams, gentlemen of high standing, distin- 
guished in the knowledge and practice of the profession. After a year with 
them, he entered the University of Virginia, and in one session graduated 
in law, political economy, moral and mental philosophy, and was final 
orator of the Jefferson Society, of that institution. Returning to his home, 
he at once entered with diligence upon the study and practice of his pro- 
fession, giving his leisure hours to broad culture and literature. 

His methodical habits, indu.stry, vigorous mind and character soon gained 
for him reputation in the one, and accomplishments in the other. Within a 
year after coming to the bar he was elected commonwealth's attorney, for 
all the courts of the city of Winchester and county of Frederick, and was 
re-elected to those offices continuously until the war, 1861 to 1865. 

At the beginning of the war, a large newly-formed infantry company; 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 577 

from their homes in the mountains of Frederick and adjoining counties, 
marched to his office, and tendered him its command. This was his first 
knowledge of its existence. He accepted, and at its head entered the line 
and rose to the rank of colonel of the Thirty-third Virginia Regiment, Stone- 
wall brigade, and was marked for his ability and gallantry in all the battles 
in which that command was engaged, until August, 1802, when, at the 
battle of Cedar Run, or Slaughter's Mountain, he lost his right arm. This 
injury caused prolonged suffering, and rendered him unfit for service any 
longer in the field. He was then elected a member of the Confederate 
Congress from the Winchester district, and continued such until the end of 
the war. On returning to his home at its conclusion, he returned also to 
his professional life and general studies, rising at once to the front of the- 
bar, long distinguished for its talent, culture and character. 

On the death of Gen. Robert E. Lee, at the request of the city authori- 
ties and the citizens of Winchester, he delivered an address on his life and 
character, which was replete with profound knowledge and literary merit. 
In June, 1870, he delivered another before the Society of Alumni, of the 
University of Virginia, on "Higher Education, the hope of American Re- 
publicanism." This speech attracted the attention, and excited the admira- 
tion of students, scholars and statesmen, by the broad treatment of the sub- 
ject, the beauty and purity of its style, and breadth and depth of its flow. 
lu 1870 he was the commissioner from Virginia, of the United States Cen- 
tennial held at Philadelphia, and was also the same year appointed Elector 
at large for the state in the presidential canvass. Since the war he has 
taken but little active part in politics, though a close student and shrewd 
observer of public affairs. He had been repeatedly urged to enter upon 
public life but uniformly declined. 

The brilliant and elevated manner in which he conducted the canvass,, 
discussing principles, not men, attracted general notice to his varied and 
great abilities as a thinker and speaker. 

While not in harmony with his tastes and wishes, he was nominated for 
governor, the following year, and elected without opposition, and entered 
upon the duties of that office January 7, 1878. His public acts during his 
term of office, four years, were expressed chiefly through his messages and 
vetoes, which in the discussion of the State debt, defending and sustaining^ 
the public credit, are regarded as papers of the highest order. His ad- 
dress of welcome at the Yorktown Centennial in 1831, by appointment of 
Congress, was masterly in conception and execution, and will live as long 
as the event which inspired it. 

Since the close of his term of office as governor, not having returned 
to his profession, he has spent his time on his farm, in his library, or in 
travel. His first and last trips have been made in North and South America. 



518 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

In North America he visited Mexico, also the States and Territories west 
and many east of the Mississippi, including a trip to the West Indies, and 
to the Sandwich Islands. In South America he ascended the Amazon, from 
its m:)uth for more than 1,200 miles, returning, coasted its eastern 
line, stopping at the points of interest, penetrating the Argelitine Republic 
to Mendoza, and visiting Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Brazil. Passing 
through the Straits of Magellan, he also visited Chili, Peru and Ecuador, 
returning home by the Isthmus of Panama. He has made two trips to 
Europe, visitinsr its northern, eastern and central portions, all its countries 
save those on the Mediterranean and Portugal. His most extended single 
tour, was that made around the world, going from New York, by way of 
Liverpool, London. Gibraltar, Suez to Bombay, then through India, Java, 
the Chinese Empire and Japan, and returning by way of San Francisco, the 
Yellowstone Park, and the Great Lakes, to his home. 

The physical capacity needed to perform these extensive trips is truly 
•oreat, and considering it was accomplished V:)y a man who had lost his right 
arm it is still more remarkable. But these bodily efforts are little when 
compared with his mental activities, expressed by his daily letters to his 
family, keeping them from day to day or rather from hour to hour, by his 
side, showing them all he saw (and he seemed to see everything), every page 
worded with accuracy and illumined by vivid description, touched with an 
enthusiasm which rare culture and intense thirst for knowledge can alone 
inspire; each sentence as coin fresh from the mint. His letters thus rapidly 
written, not only contain vast stores of information, but are models of liter- 
ary achievement. 

Gov. Holliday's private and public life, high sense of duty and honor, 
force of character, self-reliance, independence of thought and action, 
thorough culture, sound judgment, subtle and philosophic mind, give to 
liim a high rank as a man. a Christian, a lawyer, a scholar and a statesman. 
John A. Washington. The Washingtons of Jefferson Count}^ were 
descendants of Col. Samuel, John Augustine and Charles Washington, 
brothers of Gen. George Washington. Col. Samuel owned a tract of land 
near Charlestown called Harewood, upon which he built, about 1750, a 
stone dwelling now standing, which, with a part of the tract, is still owned 
by female descendants, his male descendants having all moved to other parts 
of the United States. The grandsons of John Augustine Washington set- 
tled in Jefferson on land owned by their grandfather, and those there now 
bearing the name are their descendants. Charles Washington owned the 
land upon which Charlestown is laid out, and gave the town his name; his 
descendants have all moved away, with the exception of Miss Washington, 
of Frederick County, Va. 

The Barton Family. Its living representatives in the county of Fred- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGllAPHY. 579 

erick may be said to be Joseph M. Barton and his children who live in the 
county, and Robert T. Barton, who lives in Winchester. The former is a 
farmer and the latter a lawyer. 

Richard P. Barton, a farmer, the first of the name in Virginia, moved 
to Frederick County, Va. , from Lancaster County, Penn. , between the years 
1780 and 1790. His father was a clergyman of the Episcopal Church, and 
had charge of the parish at Lancaster. He came to this country directly 
from Ireland, but his family were English people. The sons of Richard 
P. Barton, who continued to reside in the Lower Valley and left families, 
were Richard W. Barton and David W. Barton. The former, father of 
Joseph M. Barton, was a farmer, and at one time a member of Congress. 
One of his sons, William Barton, was a soldier in the Confederate army and 
died about 1870. David W. Barton was a lawyer and a member of the firm 
of Barton & Williams, at Winchester. He was for many years one of the 
leading lawyers of the Valley of Virginia; was an accomplished scholar, and 
wrote with great ease and felicity of expression, but excessive diffidence 
prevented his taking the part as an advocate, which his legal and general 
learning and ability fitted him for. He was the trusted friend and adviser of 
a large portion of the community. Mr. Barton acquired a considerable for- 
tune from the practice of his profession, the greater part of which was lost 
through the emancipation of the slaves and the destruction of property by 
the Civil War. He died on the 7th day of July, 1863, and is buried in 
Mt. Hebron Cemetery at Winchester. 

D. W. Barton had six sons, all of whom were soldiers in the Confeder- 
ate army. Two, Marshall and David, were killed in battle, and one, Strother, 
lost his leg at the battle of Mine Run, dying in 1868, mainly as the result of 
the loss of his limb. Marshall was killed at Winchester at the rout of Banks 
on May '25, 1862. He fell on the hill about a mile south of the town and to 
the west of the valley turnpike, near where the Williams' woolen factory now 
stands. David was killed at the second battle of Fredericksburg, December 
13, 1862, and his body was buried on the field. All efforts to discover it 
afterward failed. Both of these soldiers were lieutenants in the Newtowa 
artillery, one succeeding the other. Strother was first lieutenant of Com- 
pany F, Second Virginia Infantry. The sons who survive are Robert T. 
Barton, of Winchester; Randolph Barton, a lawyer, and Boiling W. Bar- 
ton, a physician of Baltimore. 

Their mother was Fannie L. Jones, of Frederick County, Va., daughter 
of W. Strother Jones, of that county. Her grandfather was W. Strother 
Jones, a captain in the Revolutionary army, who died at the age of about 
twenty-five years. Her great-grandfather was Gabriel Jones, who was per- 
haps the first lawyer who practiced in the Valley of Virginia. His home 
was in Rockingham County, Va., but he had a farm, and at one time a law 



580 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

office iu Frederick County, and attended the courts of Frederick. Mrs. 
Barton, who died January 10, 1890, more than eighty years of age, was a 
great niece of Chief Justice Marshall. A number of the members of the 
family of the Chief Justice have lived in Frederick County and the adjoin- 
ing county of Warren, but none bearing the name now reside in Frederick 
County. 

Hunter Family. Memoranda furnished by Mr. Hammond Hunter, of 
New York, son of Rev. Moses Hoge Hunter, and grandson of Col. David 
Hunter, of Berkeley County: 

The founder of the family was Robert Hunter, to whom Alexander II., of 
Scotland, gave the manor of "Hunterston," in Ayrshire, Scotland near the 
mouth of the Clyde River, in the year 1239. The property still remains in 
the family, in the female line, the last male owner, Robert Hunter, having 
died in 1862. They are distinguished as the "Hunters of Hunterston and 
that ilk." Dr. John Hunter, discoverer of the circulation of the blood, 
was one of them. Part of the family cro-ised the channel into the northern 
part of Ireland. In 1750 Robert Hunter came to New York, and in 1765 
was governor of the colony. About the same time, or a little earlier, David 
and Andrew Hunter came from Ireland to America. Andrew Hunter settled 
in New Jersey. He was a Presbyterian preacher, and never married. 
David settled in Little York, Penn. , and married there, where his six chil- 
dren were born, viz. : Rebecca Hunter, born November 8, 1749, who in 
1767 married Joseph Holmes, of Winchester, Va., and had thirteen children, 
among them Judge Hugh Holmes, of Winchester, who died about 1830,-^ 
David Holmes, governor of Mississippi and United States senator, Andrew 
Hunter Holmes, lawyer of New Orleans, killed at Mackinaw, in the War 
of 1812, while the daughters mai'ried the Ma^uires and Conrads, of Win- 
chester, Elisha Boyd, ancestor of C. J. Faulkner, etc. ; Andrew Hunter, 
second son of David and Martha, was born in 1751, in York, Penn., and 
adopted by his uncle, Andrew, of Princeton, N. J. He became a Presby- 
terian preacher, at Princeton, and at Washington, D. C. He married twice, 
his second wife being Miss Stockton. He left tive children, among them 
being David Hunter, major general United States army, who died February, 
1886, Richard Hunter, United States navy, Dr. Lewis Hunter, Philadel- 
phia, now dead; Moses Hunter, born at York in 1753, married Ann, 
daughter of Gen. Adam Stephens and widow of Alexander Spottswood Dan- 
dridge. Their children were David Hunter, killed at the battle of Chrys- 
ler's Field, in Canada, in 1819, Evelina, afterward wife of Judge Henry;- 
St. George Tucker, Moses T. Hunter, eminent lawyer, wit and orator, of 
Martinsburg, where he lived and died; Nancy Hunter, born at York in 
1$55, married John Kean, of Winchester, and they became the parents of 
three children: Joseph, lieutenant in the War of 1812, and clerk of Fred- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 581 

erick County, Betsey, married Judge White, of Winchester, Nancy, who 
married Alfred H. Powell, of Winchester; Martha Hunter, "Aunt Patty," 
died unmarried; David Hunter, born at Little York, Penn. , May 3, 1761, 
was afterward colonel. 

In 1$65, when their youngest son was four years old, David and Martha 
Hunter came, with the Bedingers and other families, from the vicinity of 
York, Penn. , to the Valley of Virginia, and settled near the present site of 
Martinsburg. He bought the tract of land known as the Red House farm 
(where Berkeley county was organized in 1772), and the Smoketown farm, 
where his family grew up. 

Moses Hunter, the third son of David and Martha, was clerk of Berke- 
ley county from 1785 to 1798. He was succeeded for a brief time by Henry 
Bedinger, and then by his younger brother, Col. David Hunter, who held 
the office till his death, in 1829. 

In 1792 Col. David Hunter, on his return from a visit to England, mar- 
ried Elizabeth Pendleton, eldest daughter of Col. Philip Pendletoa, of Mar- 
tinsburg. Their children were: Elizabeth Pendleton Hunter, born May 
19, 1796, died January 4, 1861, married John Strother, who in 1829 suc- 
ceeded Col. Hunter as clerk of Berkeley county (their children, except 
those who died in infancy, were: David Hunter Strother, born in 1816, 
artist, author of Virginia sketches, over nom de plume of "Porte Crayon," 
general on stafP of McClellan, Pope and Halleck, and consul-general to 
Mexico, died in 1888; Emily Strother, born April 8, 1820, married James 
Lingan Randolph, chief engineer of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad); Ann 
Kean Hunter, born in 1798, married Rev. John Blair Hoge, leaving two 
children: Mrs. S. P. Bishop, of Cincinnati, and Hon. John Blair Hoge, M. 
C, now district judge of Washington, D. C. ; Philip Pendleton Hunter, law- 
yer, born in 1800, died in 1855, in Carmi, 111.; David Hunter, M. D., born 
in 1802, married first to Mercy Harrison, who left one child, Dr. John Hun- 
ter Harrison, now of Berkeley Springs, Morgan county (David Hunter's 

second wife was Rebecca Lane , who still survives him, at the age of 

eighty- seven, in Charlestown, Jefferson county, whose children were: Eliza- 
beth Pendleton Hunter, now Mrs. W. H. Travers, and Mary E. Hunter, 
now widow of Gen. D. H. Strother, her cousin); Andrew Hunter, a dis- 
tinguished lawyer of Charlestown, Jefferson county, born in Martinsburg, 
in 1801, died in 1888, and married Elizabeth Ellen Stubblefield, daughter of 
a former superintendent of Harper's Ferry Armory (he was an eminent law- 
yer, general counsel for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and assisted in the 
prosecution of John Brown. He had his property destroyed and house 
burned by his cousin, Gen. David Hunter, during the late war. He went 
to work after the war, and earned enough at his practice to rebuild his 
bouse, and leave it with other property, unencumbered, to his daughters. 



582 HISTOllY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

His children were: Harry Hunter, deceased; Mrs. Mary Kent and Flor- 
ence Hunter); Rebecca Louisa H., sixth child of Col. David and Martha 
Hunter, married Rev. John T. Brooke, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Edmund Pen- 
dleton Hunter, born in Martinsburg in 1809, died of cholera in 1854, mar- 
ried Martha C. Abell, of Jefferson county (he was a lawyer, eminent Mason, 
and his family still resides in Martinsburg); Mary Susan Hunter, born in 
1811, married Rev. W. C. Matthew, and went to Kentucky; Moses Hoge 
Hunter, Episcopal clergyman, born October 8, 1814, married Catherine 
Hammond, of Cincinnati, Ohio, emigrated to Michigan, and now lives in 
Maryland. 

The Boyd Family. John Boyd, a native of England, obtained from 
Lord Fairfax a grant of land lying a few miles west of Martinsburg, and 
lived upon it until his death, which occurred in 1800. He was one of the 
earliest settlers of that part of Frederick that was afterward formed into 
Berkeley county. His wife, Sarah Gryfth, a Welsh lady, to whom he was 
married in 1754, survived him and died in 1806. They had eight children, 
all of whom except Elisha, the youngest, moved to Kentucky, and were 
among the first emigrants to that State. 

Gen. Elisha Boyd, son of John and Sarah Gryfth Boyd, was born in 
Berkeley, then Frederick county, on the 6th of October, 1769. He attended 
the schools of the neighborhood, and at the age of fourteen entered Liberty 
Hall Academy, in Rockbridge county, which institution soon grew into 
Washington College, and is now known as Washington and Lee University. 
Among his schoolmates were Dr. Archibald Alexander, of Princeton; Judge 
John Coalter, of the court of appeals; Justice Todd, of the United States 
supreme court, and others who became distinguished in church and state. 
He studied law with Col. Philip Pendleton for several years, began the 
practice in Berkeley and the adjacent counties, and soon acquired a lucra- 
tive practice; was mernber of House of Delegates in 1796 and 1797; chosen 
commonwealth's attorney for Berkeley County in 1798, and held the office 
for forty years; commanded the Fourth Regiment of Virginia Militia at 
Norfolk in 1814; commissioned brigadier-general of the State Militia; was 
a member of the constitutional convention in 1829-30, and cf the state 
senate in 1830. He was married three times, first in 1795 to Mary, daugh- 
ter of Maj. Andrew Waggoner, an officer of the Revolutionary war, by 
whom he had one child, Sarah Ann, who, in 1813, married Philip C. Pen- 
dleton. Mrs. Pendleton survived her husband and died in 1867. In 1806 
he married Ann, daughter of Col. Joseph Holmes and sister of Gov. David 
Holmes of Mississippi, of Judge Hugh Holmes and Maj. Andrew Hunter 
Holmes. By her he had four children, viz. : Ann Rebecca, who married 
Col. Humphrey B. Powell, of Loudoun County, and is now a widow, resid- 
ing in Winchester; John E., of Berkeley County, who died in 1888; An- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 583 

drew Hunter Holmes, of Winchester, and Mary M. , who married Hon. C. J. 
Faulkner, and is now a widow residing at Boydrille, the family homestead 
in the suburbs of Martinsburg. Mrs. Ann Boyd died July 20, 1819. Gen. 
Boyd's last wife was Elizabeth Byrd, sister of the late Richai'd E. Byrd, of 
Winchester. She died in 1839 and left no children. 

Rev. A. H. H. Boyd, D. D. Andrew Hunter Holmes Boyd, youngest 
son of Gen. Elisha Boyd, was born in Martinsburg in June, 1814, attended 
school in Martinsburg, Middleburg and Georgetown; at the age of fourteen 
entered the junior class of Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, gradaate.l in 
1830, pursued an elective course at Yale College for two years, spent three 
years at the Princeton Theological Seminary, where he graduated, and then 
attended a course of lectures at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 
where he studied theology under Dr. Chalmers, and metaphysics under Sir 
William Hamilton. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Win- 
chester in 1837, for several years had charge of churches in Loudoun 
County, was called to Harrisonburg in 1840, and to the Loudoun Street 
Presbyterian Church in Winchester in 1842, where he lived until his death, 
which occurred on the 16th of December, 1855. The degree of doctor of 
divinity was conferred upon him by Delaware College in 1852. During his 
pastorate in Winchester he received, but declined, numerous calls to leading 
churches in the large cities. In 1838 he married Eleanor Frances, daugh- 
ter of Philip Williams of Woodstock, who survived him, and died in Win- 
chester on the 19th of January, 1890. 

During the late war he was seized several times by the Federal military 
authorities as a hostage and confined in prison, and his death, while in the 
prime of life, was caused by this illegal and cruel imprisonment. He left 
three sons: E. Holmes, of Winchester; Philip W., of Florence, Ala., and 
Andrew Hunter, of Cumberland, Md. Besides his regular pastoral work, 
which was in itself very laborious, Dr. Boyd was frequently a member of 
the general assembly of his church, and served on important committees, 
contributed regularly to the church papers and magazines, and took an act- 
ive part in the deliberations of the church courts, and especially in those 
long and heated discussions which immediately preceded the war. He be- 
longed to the New School branch of the Presbyterian Church, but heartily 
endorsed the union of the two branches in the South, which occurred in 1863. 
He was elected professor of a theological seminary, which his church was 
about to establish in 1861, but the war coming on the institution was not 
opened, and the union of the two branches of the church did away with the 
necessity. 

Hon. E. Boyd Faulknek, lawyer, Martinsbiirg, the elder son of the late 
Hon. Charles James Faulkner, was born in Berkeley County, Va., in July, 
1841. He received his early education at Georgetown College, and the 



584 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

University of Virginia, afterward traveling extensively in Europe, vehere he 
attended lectui-es in Paris upon constitutioual law. At the age of eighteen 
years he was secretary of the American legation to France, during the 
incumbency of his father as minister to that country. He returned to the 
United States in 1801 and Avas appointed aid on Gov. Letcher's staff, but 
resigned shortly after, and became an officer of distinction in the Confeder- 
ate army. He was captured at Port Republic in June, 1864, and was taken, 
with other prisoners, to Johnson's Island, where he was confined a year, 
being released in June, 1865. In 1867 he went to Hopkinsville, Ky., where 
he formed a law partnership with Judge Petree, and the firm had an exten- 
sive practice. Mr. Faulkner soon acquired the reputation of being a sound 
lawyer and an able speaker. In 1872 he returned to his native State and 
located permanently in Martinsburg. He was elected to the Legislature of 
West Virginia in 1876, where he served the interests of the people with a 
faithfulness which will long be remembered, especially in his efforts to relieve 
the bonded indebtedness of Berkeley County. Under the arrangement made 
by the court, and through the legislation brought about by Mr. Faulkner, on 
the 2d of January, 1881, the eight per cent bonds were paid off or 
exchanged, and the county relieved of an annual drain upon it for interest 
and commissions alone of about $3,465 besides having the bonds bear their 
just proportion of the taxes which weighed so heavily upon the people. 
Such was the esteem in which Mr. Faulkner was held, that he was elected 
to the State Senate in 1877, upon the expiration of his term in the Lower 
Houf-e. He became chairman of several important committees, and made a 
I'ecord that has been referred to with just pride and pleasure, and which led 
to his being urged to become a candidate for governor of West Virginia in 
1884. He was tendered the office of consul-general to Egypt by President 
Cleveland, which he declined, also the mission to Persia, which he likewise 
declined, preferring to devote his entire time to his extensive and lucrative 
law practice, which seems most congenial to him. 

Hon. Charles J. Faulkner, lawyer, Martinsburg, Berkeley County, Va. , 
was born at the ancestral home at Martinsburg, Va. , on the 21st of September, 
1847, and accompanied his father, Hoil Charles James Faulkner, who was 
appointed minister to Franco by President Buchanan, in 1859. There the 
young man had the advantages of a European education, attending schools 
in Paris and Switzerland. He returned in 1861 and was with his father at 
the time of that gentleman's arrest by the Federal authorities at Washing- 
ton, the story of which has become a matter of national history. In 1862, 
when a boy of fifteen, he entered the Virginia Military Institute at Lexing- 
ton, and served with the famous cadets who fought so gallantly at the battle 
of New Market, and where young Faulkner distinguished himself by his 
ardor and daring. He later served on the staff of Gen. John C. Breckin- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 585 

ridge, and afterward was appointed as aid-de-carap on the staff of Gen. 
Henry A. Wise, and surrendered with him at Appomattox, whence he re- 
turned to his home. He then began a course of instruction under his father's 
direction, and the foundation was there laid for a successful public life, 
the bent of his instructions being toward the province of the law, in which 
his father occupied, during a long and useful life, such a leading place. 
Thus prepared by so able a preceptor, he entered the University of Virginia, 
in October, 1866, and graduated therefrom in June, 1868, being admitted 
to the bar the following September. Mr. Faulkner at once became a 
member of recognized ability and of such prominence that not many years 
thereafter he was selected for the judiciary, being elected, in October, 1880, 
judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District, comj^osed of the counties of 
Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan, at the age of thirty-three years, he being 
one of the youngest judges in the State. He has presided over the courts 
with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituency, his fellow 
citizens holding him in high esteem. His rulings and decisions evidenced 
so impartial a sense of justice and so thorough a knowledge of the law, 
that a distinguished lawyer and political opponent said of him, "I would 
not hesitate to trust to Judge Faulkner's decision, in his judicial capacity, 
upon any political question. ' ' In May, 1882, Judge Faulkner was elected 
United States Senator for West Virginia, and resigned his judicial position 
to accept the honor conferred upon him. Immediately on his entering the 
Senate he was assigned as a member of five of the hardest worked com- 
mittees of that body, and has taken an active part in its proceedings. The 
Senator is a gentleman of popular social habits, an astute lawyer, a forcible 
and brilliant speaker, and as a debator before a jury or upon the hustings, 
has few superiors any where, and none in his native State. After his 
election to the United States Senate he associated with himself in the 
practice of the law, Stuart W. Walker, a rising young attorney of Martins - 
burg, and the firm commands a large practice. Senator Faulkner is also well 
known and esteemed in the Masonic fraternity, having been grand master 
of the Grand Lodge of West Virginia during the years 1879 and 1880. 
He is the youngest son of the Hon. Charles James Faulkner, of national 
reputation, a sketch of whom will be found in the main historic portion of 
this work, and by whose will the Senator will come into possession of 
"Boydville," the old homestead, after his mother's death. 

Henry B. Davenport, farmer, Charlestown. The magnificent farm now 
owned by Col. Davenport, near Charlestown, was purchased of Charles 
Washington in 1793, after whom the above named town received its name. 
The property was sold to Abram Davenport, and it has since been owned by 
his descendants. The farm has increased in size to over 1,200 acres of 
land, and is one of the most fertile and magnificent tracts in the Shenan- 



K 



586 HISTORY OF THE LOWEK SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

doah Valley. Around this old homestead cluster associations as illustrious 
as any found in Virginia. It is not only associated by ownership with the 
name of the immortal Washington, but the present occupant is a descend- 
ant of the family of that distinguished divine, John Davenport, of New 
Haven, also of the Bedingers of Revolutionary fame, and by marriage with 
the illustrious Clays of Kentucky. Gov. Worthington, of Ohio, founder 
of the village of that name near Columbus, that state, had his birthplace on 
this spot of ground. Q 

From a curious old parchment of mediaeval times, containing the prayer 
of Sir Matthew Hale, beautifully illuminated around the edges, and now in 
the possession of Henry B. Davenport, we extract the following memoran- 
da: ''Abram Davenport, born May 17, 1714; Mary, his wife, born March 
28, 1724; children: Elizabeth, born February 13, 1747; Stephen, born No- 
vember 24, 1749; Abram, born in February, 1752; John, born December 
14, 1753; Marmaduke, April 23, 1755; Aiithony James, born May 19, 1757; 
Adrian, April, 1759; Mary, ter23, 1763; Samuel A., August 3, 1765; 
Ariet/Beptember 9, 1767; Catherine, August 5, 1769." Abram Davenport, 
Si-., was a descendant of the Rev. John Davenport, and was the great-grand- 
father of Henry B. Davenport. He moved from Connecticut to St. Mary's 
County, Md., where his son, Abram, the grandfather of Henry B. , was born. 
Abram Davenport, Jr., was the father of Margaret, wife of Dr. Magruder; 
Mazy, wife of Col. McCormick; Amt^lia, wife of Col. Strother; Thomas Dav- 
enport, who was six feet eight and a fourth inches high, and weighed 350 
pounds; William; Braxton; Mrs. Julia Jack; Mrs. Rebecca Bryan and 
Ariet. Braxton Davenport was the father of Henry B. Davenport and 
Frances Williams, now the wife of Col. John T. Gibson. 

Braxton Davenport was a very prominent man, and became a distin- 
guished citizen in the history of JefPerson County. He was a member of 
the State Legislature for four years, was presiding magistrate for Jefferson 
County from 1852 to 1861, before whom John Brown was committed to jail, 
and, prior to that, he had been sheriff and magistrate of the county for a 
period of forty years; was state director of the Valley Bank for most of his 
life, and one time was president of the Agricultural Society of Jefferson 
County; was colonel of the militia for twenty or thirty years, and com- 
manded a company at Norfolk, Va., in the War of 1812-14, and though at 
the time a very young man was offered the appointment by President Madi- 
son of first lieutenant in the regular army, which he declined. He was born 
in 1791, was married September 1, 1830, to Miss Elizabeth Bedinger, daugh- 
ter of Maj. Henry Bedinger, and died in 1862. 

The family of Davenports have become distinguished as military men. 
Abram Davenport, Sr., was king's magistrate of St. Mary's County, Md., 
at the time of the Revolution, and loyal to the royal government, but when 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGKAPHY. 587 

his seven sons enlisted as rebels in that great strife, he too became a patriot. 
His son, Abram Davenport, Jr., was taken prisoner at King's Bridge, and 
released in one year. Maj. Henry Bedinger, the father-in-law of Braxton 
Davenport, volunteered in a company raised uuder the command of Capt. 
Hugh Stephenson, afterward of Capt. Shepherd, marched from Morgan's 
Spring, near Shepherdstown, Berkeley Coimty, to the siege of Boston, June 
9, 1775, and remained there in active service until the evacuation of that 
city. Being ordered then to New York, the regiment was then organized 
and officers commissioned July 9, 1776. The entire regiment was captured 
by the British at the battle of Fort Washington, or King's Bridge, near 
New York, November 16, 1776, and most of the officers retained as prison- 
ers on Long Island until November 1, 1780, when they were exchanged and 
remained in service till the close of the war. Young Bedinger was com- 
missioned third lieutenant in Capt. Shepherd's company, and his original 
commission signed by John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, 
is now in H. B. Davenport's possession. After his exchange he was com- 
missioned a captain in the Fifth Virginia Regiment, and ordered to York- 
town, but before he reached that point the surrender of Lord Cornwallis 
and his army had taken place. He then returned to Berkeley County, 
where he held many prominent offices; his death occurred May 14, 1843, 
at nearly ninety years of age. 

Henry B. Davenport, his grandson, was born September 9, 1831. He 
was carefully educated under private tutors of distinguished abilities, com- 
pleting his course in the University of Virginia in 1852. He commanded 
the guard that took John Brown to and from the jail to the court-house 
daily, and j)robably knows more about that chief insurgent than any other 
man. He was also first lieutenant, in Stonewall Jackson's brigade, and 
served two years in the war. In 1860 he married Miss Martha, daughter 
of Hon. Brutus J. Clay, who was a member of Congress four years, and 
brother of Hon. Cassius M. Clay, for eight years minister to Russia. Mr. 
Davenport has one of the most scientific and best managed farms in the 
valley. His farm seemed to be the objective point of every army on both 
sides for a place of encampment when passing through the country, and by 
the time the war closed there was not a fence on it. By a wonderful re- 
cuperative energy, however, this vast estate has been all built up again, and 
now during the busy seasons of the year gives employment to thirty or 
forty men. 

Pendleton Family. In 1625 Henry Pendleton was born, in Norwich, 
England. He was the father of Philip Pendleton (born in 1650), and emi- 
grated from England in 1674, and settled in New Kent County (now Caro- 
line), died in 1721. He married, in 1682, Isabella Hurt, and their children 
were: Elizabeth, who married Samuel Clayton, of Caroline; Rachel, 



588 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

married John Vass; Catherine, married John Taylor; Henry Pendleton, 
born in 16S3. married, in 1701, to Mary, daughter of James Taylor; 
he died in May, 1721; Isabella, married Richard Thomas; John, born 
in 1691, descendants in Amherst and Hanover Counties. The issue of 
Henry and Maiy Taylor Pendleton was seven children, including Nathaniel 
Pendleton, who was born in 1715, married his second cousin, daughter of 
Col. Philip Clayton, and died in 1794; children: Nathaniel, born in 
1746, died in New York OctoVier 20, 1821 (was aide to Gen. Green in 1775, 
lawyer of New York City, and Alexander Hamilton's second in his duel with 
Aaron Burr; married Susan Bard); William, born in 1748, settled in 
Berkeley Connty; Henry, born in 1750, died in South Carolina in Janu- 
ary, 1789; Philip Pendleton, born near Martinsburg, 1752, and died in 
1801. Philip Pendleton married Agnes Patterson in 1772. At that time 
he was an attorney, and was present at the organization of Berkeley County ; 
his children were eight in number, viz. : Elizabeth, born in 1774, mar 
ried Col. David Hunter in 1792, and died in 1825; children: Mrs. Strother, 
Mrs. Hoge, P. P. Hunter, D. David Hunter, Mrs. Brooke, Edmund P. Gun- 

ter, Mrs. Matthews and Rev. Moses H. Hunter; Nancy C. , married 

Kennedy; children: Andrew, Philip P., John P. (author), Antony (sena- 
tor); Col. Pllilip Clayton Pendleton, lawyer, vefy prominent in all pub- 
lic affairs in Berkeley and Morgan till his death, in 1860; he married Sallie 
Boyd, daughter of Gen. Elisha Boyd, and his children were: Philip Pendle- 
ton, now of Berkeley Springs, Dr. E. Boyd Pendleton, Berkeley Springs, 
and Edmund, late Judge Pendleton, of Winchester; Edmund Pendleton, 
married Serena Pumell; children: Isaac Pumell Pendleton and Serena P., 
since Mrs. Dandridge; Sarah Pendleton, married Adam Stephen Dand- 
ridge; children: Adam Stephen Dandridge, now of the "Bower," in Jef- 
ferson County, Phil P. Dandridge, Mary Evelina (Mrs. R. M. T. Hunter), 
Dr. Alex Spottswood Dandridge, of Cincinnati, 'Nancy (Mrs. Buchanan), 
Sarah P. (Mrs. Senator Antony Kennedy); Maria Pendleton, married 
John R. Cooke; children: Henry Cooke, Phil P. Cooke, John Esten Cooke 
(novelist); Ann Cooke, Sallie (Mrs. Davall), Mary (Mrs. Steiger, of Rich- 
mond), Edmund Cooke; and Henry and James Pendleton, never married. 

Charles S. Lee, farmer, Berryville, son of Edmund Jennings Lee, was 
born in Jefferson county, Va., in 1826. His grandfather, also named Ed- 
mund Jennings Lee, was the father of Col. Richard Henry Lee, of 
Chapel District, Clarke county, and a near relative of Gen. Robert E. Lee, 
of the late war. 

The following account of the Lee family, says the late Bishop Meade, is 
copied from a manuscript in the handwriting of William Lee, dated Lon- 
don, September, 177-; the last figure not known, but probably 1774 or 75, 
the author being one of the sons of Thomas Lee, so many of whom were 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. ^89" 

active in the Revolution, especially Richard Henry Lee, and Francis Lio-ht- 
foot Lee. The account in part is as follows: 

Richard Lee, of good family in Shropshire, some time in the reign of 
Charles I, went over to the colony of Virginia as secretary, and one of the 
King's Privy Council. He was a man of good stature, comely appearance, 
enterprising genius, a sound head, vigorous spirit and generous nature. When 
he got to Virginia he was so pleased with the country he made large settle- 
ments there with the servants he carried over. After some years he returned 
to England and gaye all the lands he had taken up and settled at his expense 
to those servants he had fixed on them. After staying some time in Eng- 
land, he returned to Virginia with a fresh band of adventurers. This Rich- 
ard Lee had several children, the two eldest, John and Richard, were 
educated at Oxford. John took his degrees as doctor of physic and 
returned to Virginia, and died before his father, Richard. He was so clever 
and learned, that some great men offered to promote him to the highest dig 
nities in the church if his father would let him stay in England, but this 
offer was refused, because the old gentleman was determined to fix all his 
children in Virginia. So firm was he in this purpose that by his will he 
ordered an estate he had in England, at this time worth £800 or £900- 
per annum, to be sold and the money to be divided among his chil- 
dren. He died and was buried in Virginia, leaving a numerous progeny. 
His eldest son then living was Richard, who spent almost his whole life in 
study, and usually wrote his notes in Greek, Hebrew or Latin. He was a 
member of the King's Council in Virginia, and also held other offices of 
honor and profit. It is not possible, in the limits of this sketch, to trace 
this very noted family in Virginia and indeed in America, but so far as we 
know, all the Lees of Virginia have descended from Richard Lee, called the 
"First" Lee, many of them having been distinguished. Col. Henry Lee, 
of Revolutionary fame, was a great-grandson of Richard Lee the first. 
Gen. Robert E. Lee, of the late war and Col. Richard Henry Lee, of this 
Clarke coimty, were among the distinguished military descendants of the 
same first Lee family. The latter, R. H. Lee, is a son of Edmund Jennings 
and Sallie Lee, and was born in Alexandria, Va. He and his brother Ed 
mund Jennings Lee, deceased, were the first of the Lee family that identi- 
fied themselves with the Lower Shenandoah Valley. Col. Lee read law at 
Shepherdstown, Jefferson county, and subsequently practiced law at Charles - 
town, in the same county. He married Evelyn, daughter of William 
Byrd Page, of Pagebrooke, and by this marriage there are five childten, 
viz. : William B., an Episcopal minister; Richard H., Jr. ; Charles Henry; 
Mary P., and Eliza A., wife of the Rev. George James R. Winchester, of 
Lincoln, Ga. Charles S. Lee, mentioned at the head of this sketch, mar- 
ried Margaret, daughter of Mann R. Page, whose mother was Ann Lee,, 
sister of Gen. Harry Lee. 



590 HI8T0EY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

The Lees, says Bishop Meade, almost without exception, have been Epis- 
copalians, and many of them very eminent in the church and for their piety. 

Marquis Calmes, a French Huguenot nobleman, was born in France in 
1705. In 1726 he left his native country and sailed for Virgiuia, giving up 
his titles and great estates to seek a home in a land of freedom, where he 
could worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. Soon after 
his arrival in Virginia he married an English lady in Williamsburg, Miss 
Winnifred Waller, of distinguished parentage, possessed of noble qualities 
of mind and rare virtue. He resided in Williamsburg but a short time, 
removing from there to the Shenandoah Valley, and consequently became 
one of the early settlers. His home was in Clarke county, about three 
miles from Millwood near the Shenandoah river, where he acquired, by 
grant of Lord Fairfax, a large tract of land. Here he planted the lirst 
vineyard in the Shenandoah Valley, and this farm is still known as the 
"Vineyard Plantation." On October 22, 1743, a commission was issued 
under the hand of the Hon. William Gooch, his majesty's lieutenant gov- 
ernor and commander-in-chief of the colony and dominion of Virginia, and 
under the seal of the colony, appointing Mar(|uis Calmes, one of the orig- 
inal thirteen justices that constituted the first court of Frederick county 
(Clarke then being a part of Frederick), whfch was held in the historic city 
of Winchester, the county seat of Frederick. Marquis Calmes was a ves- 
tryman of the Cunningham Chapel (now Old Chapel, rebuilt in 1789), one 
of the first churches erected in the Shenandoah Valley. He served with 
distinction, attaining the rank of major in the Indian wars, throughout which 
he bravely defended his country and protected the homes of our forefathers 
against the deadly assaults of a savage foe. He died in 175\l and was 
buried on the '"Vineyard Plantation." On a horizontal slab of granite, 
which is the oldest monument in the cemetery adjoining the " Old Chap- 
el," appears the following inscription: "Here lies the body of Winni- 
fred, the wife of Major Marquis Calmes. They were joined in wedlock 
26 years, and had six children. She was a loving, virtuous and industrious 
wife, a tender mother, and kind mistress. 

She departed this life Oct. 6th, Anno Domini 1751." 

William Calmes, son of Marquis and Winnifred Calmes, was born in 
Clarke county, January 18, 1729, and married Miss Lucy Neville, the 
daughter of Capt. George Neville, whose father came from England and 
settled in Lancaster county, Va. Capt. George Neville was a lineal de- 
scendant of the Earl of Warwick, and one of the most polished gentlemen 
of his day. He married Miss Gibbs, of Scotland, and was the early friend 
of Lord Fairfax and Col. Thomas Marshall (father of Chief Justice 
Marshall). Two of his nephews (sons of Col. John Neville), Gen. John and 
Gen. Presley Neville (the latter an aid to Gen. Morgan), were distinguished 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGKAPHY. 593 

Revolutionary officers. Among Capt. George Neville's descendants were 
Gov. Moorehead, of Kentucky, and Gen. Wade Hampton, Sr., of South 
Carolina. William Calmes owned a large tract of land near Summit Point, 
in Jefferson county, AV. Va. , not far from the line of Virginia and West 
Virginia, at what is known as Head Spring. He had six sons and two 
daughters. Gen. Marquis Calmes, one of his sons, was a captain in the 
Revolutionary war and a general in the war of 1812. Gen. Harry Calmes, 
another son, was also a general in the war of 1812. Gen. Marquis Calmes 
was born February 26, 1755. He enlisted under Lord Dunmore as a volun- 
teer from Winchester in 1774, was first a lieutenant and then a captain and 
fought throughout the Revolutionary war with marked gallantry and dis- 
tinction. At the battle of Yorktown, the crowning and closing victory of 
the war, he, single-handed and alone, captured three prisoners, having sur- 
prised them at a spring and brought them safely to the headquarters of his 
noble commander, Gen. Washington. He was the intimate friend and as- 
sociate of Gen. Lafayette, and when that great and good man came to this 
country on a visit in 1825 the two heroes and companions in arms met and 
embraced each other like two long-dissevered brothers. He emigrated from 
Virginia to Woodford county, Ky., soon after the close of the Revolution- 
ary war, and was a member of the Kentucky legislature in 1795. In 1812 
he was appointed a brigadier-general by Gov. Shelby in Gen. Harrison's 
army, and assisted by his gallantry and skilled experience in war, in defend- 
ing his country during that memorable campaign. He was one of the com- 
missioners appointed to lay off the capitol and capitol grounds at Frank- 
fort, and the town of Versailles, the county seat of Woodford. He was a 
man of great public spirit. His deeds of heroism on the field as a leader 
and defender of his people, his rare wisdom in council as a founder and 
patriot of his adopted state, and his unstinted devotion to his country, 
justly entitle his name to a place on the pages of American history. He 
died at his home in Woodford county, Ky. , February 7, 1835. A bill has 
been introduced in the Kentucky legislature asking for an appropriation to 
erect a monument to his memory. Gen. Harry Calmes was born April 9, 
1774, and also removed to Kentucky at an early day. He married Miss 
Greggs and left a numerous family. He died on his farm near Lexington, 
Ky. Fielding Calmes, a brother of Gen. Marquis and Gen. Harry Calmes, 
was born August 30, 1766, and married Miss Jane Helm, the daughter of 
Capt. William Helm, who was the son of Meredith Helm, one of the thirteen 
original justices of Frederick county and uncle of Gov. Helm of Kentucky. 
Fielding Calmes lived until the time of his death at "Helmley," Clarke 
county, Va. (then Frederick county), the Calmes homestead where his grand- 
son, Maj. Fielding H. Calmes, now resides. He had two sons, George F. 
and William Calmes. The latter removed to Maryland and married Miss 



594 HISTOEY OF THE LOWEK SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Katherine Bruce, of Cumberland, Md. The former, George F. Calmes, was 
born November 15, 1798, at "Helmley," Clarke county, Va., where he lived 
until his death, which occurred May 17, 1873. He married Miss Lucy A. 
Bourne, a daughter of Capt. William Bourne, who removed to Clarke from 
Culpeper county, Va. Two of his sons, Maj. Fielding H. Calmes and Mar- 
quis Calmes, were Confederate soldiers during the late Civil war. Marquis 
Calmes was a private in Company D, Sixth Virginia Cavalry, and was killed 
in battle November 4, 1864. Maj. Fielding H. Calmes was born at 
" Helmley," Clarke county, Va., June 17, 1832. His first wife was Miss Mar- 
garet Moore, a daughter of the late Am. Moore, of Clarke county. The 
issue of this marriage was two sons — A. M. and George G. Calmes. He 
afterward married Miss Mildred Meetze, of Charleston, S. C. He en- 
tered the Confederate army April 18, 1861, as a private in Company 
D, First Virginia Cavalry. He was gradually promoted to second corporal, 
third sergeant, then captain, at which time he was severely wounded at the 
battle of Charlestown in the early part of 1863. Immediately afterward 
he was made major of the Twenty-third Virginia Cavalry. In the principal 
battles of the late war he bore an active part. In February, 1865, he was 
commissioned lieutenant-colonel of his regiment. He is still living at the 
old family homestead, "Helmley," in Clarke county, Va. George G. 
Calmes, one of the two sons of Maj. Calmes, is the commonwealth's attorney 
of Clarke county, and, although as yet a young man, is making his mark in 
the honorable profession of which he is a member. A. M. Calmes, the 
elder son of Maj. Calmes, is a prosperous farmer near Berry ville. 

James Gather (deceased) was a public- spirited, enterprising man, and 
was born in Frederick county, Va., in 1795, nine miles west of Winchester. 
He was a farmer by occupation and represented the county of Frederick in 
the legislature several times. He was an old-time whig and a successful 
man. He was married to Anna Howard of this county. Their family con- 
sisted of five sons and three daughters, all of whom grew to manhood and 
womanhood, with the exception of one. James Howard Gather (deceased) 
was born in 1834, son of James Cather. As his father before him was, so 
he became a farmer and engaged in that pursuit throughout his life. In 
1861 he was joined in matrimony to Millicent, daughter of Jonah Lupton. 
Mr. Cather was a successful, upright, honest citizen, and for a number of 
years was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He was a Democrat. 

IVIahlon Goke was born in Loudoun county, of Quaker parentage, in 1820. 
Early in life he showed a fondness for study, which to a great extent was 
gratified while attending the school of Franklin Taylor, a teacher of the old 
school, who left his impress on his attentive pupils. During his attendance 
at this school he exhibited marked aptitude for mathematics as then taught, 
which he put to practical uses during the remainder of his life as county 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 595 

surveyor. While in Frederick county he met Miss Sidney Gather, a daugh- 
ter of James Gather, whom he subsequently married. Soon thereafter he 
engaged in farming, but finding this occupation too arduous for one of his 
naturally delicate constitution, he relinquished it for merchandising, which 
he pursued until his death in 1860, with the exception of one summer spent 
at Gopper Springs, now known as Rock Enon Springs. 

It is difficult to portray the character of a man who so long ago passed away, 
and who while living acted his part conscientiously and modestly, never 
pushing himself into others' places or claiming the homage due them. He 
was a Christian — during the latter part of his life a member of the Baptist 
Church, and as such was an efficient worker in the dual capacity of deacon, 
and superintendent of the Sunday-school. That he was respected and be- 
loved by his neighbors, is attested by the number of his namesakes in the 
neighborhood of his last earthly home. As death's mantle draped closer 
and closer around him, the only dreary thought which clouded the bow of 
promise was concerning the coming fate of the young widow and three help- 
less orphans. It will be remembered that at this time credit system pre- 
vailed in every branch of business. Before a full knowledge of the relative 
sizes of the debit and credit side of the accounts of his son-inlaw, Mr. 
Gather agreed to see that all bills due the wholesale dealers and others 
should be paid, while he would collect what he could. The war coming on, 
rendered the latter task slow, and in many cases impossible. This left Mrs. 
Gore with practically nothing besides a fervent faith in a Divine helper, a 
determined purpose to do what was right, and a longing hope to see the 
fruition of her cherished plans. As the war clouds thickened and the mut- 
teriogs of the coming contest became more distinct, her parents besought 
her to take shelter .with her fatherless boys under the parental roof. Noth- 
ing but a mother' s tender solicitude for the future of her sons caused her 
to decline a life of comparative ease and to take up, single-handed, the strug- 
gle for existence during those harassing and anxious years. She taught 
school a part of this time, and so acceptably that several pupils came from 
a distance in order to receive instruction from her. By the exercise of 
rigid economy, unwavering industry, and unceasing toil, adding advantage 
to advantage and losing no opportunity for acting wisely and well, pros- 
perity was forced to come and each year brought a welcome increase. The 
one-idea that shared with her heaven born principle to do good, was to ad- 
vance her sons to useful positions in life. The first lessons aiding them to 
assist themselves also in this direction were absolute obedience and habite 
of industry. Even when the daily battle for existenee was the fiercest, she 
found time and inclination to give a large portion of her little to the suffer- 
ing poor around her, and as her^bility to benefit others enlarged, there was 
present a corresponding willingness to live up to her opportunities. Te 



596 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

give in detail an account of her charitable deeds would be to write the better 
part of the lives of more than a score of persons. She has given to the 
wandering homeless a welcome fireside, to the inebriate an asylum where no 
words of reproach were uttered, but the kindly trusting encouragement "be 
strong and sin no more," while many ministers, timid in their youth and 
inexperienced, received from her such strength and hope, such faith and 
confidence that their subsequent successes have flowed as a natural result. 
The nationality of the needy was never questioned, American and Irish, 
Scotch and English, found a charity too broad for a single flag to cover. 
Religious belief was of no consequence; pagan and infidel, Catholic and 
Protestant came under the influence of a spirit of altruism, which is the es- 
sence of every noble creed. The young and old, the halt and blind, never 
knocked without finding the door ready to open, and in the many dispensa- 
tions of charity, but few impositions were known, while of the company of 
those who came under her influence, nearly thirty became members of the 
church of her profession, the Baptist. In business matters she has beeu 
pre-eminently successful, acquiring considerable possessions in lands and 
houses in addition to the thousands spent for the education of her sons, and 
numerous gifts to various charities. Her residence, where she has lived 
uninterruptedly during her widowhood, Valley Home, is twelve miles west of 
Winchester. There she remains, separated from her sons, Perry, Joshua 
and Howard, who are filling the positions of trust, for which she qualified 
them. 

Perry Gather Gore, after attending the neighborhood schools, entered 
Springdale Academy in Loudoun county, but a naturally delicate constitu- 
tion prevented the completion of the course of study which had been 
marked out for him. At this time Mr. William Gather, his uncle, was 
appointed sheriflp of the county, and gave him, then a youth of nineteen, 
one of the deputyships. He served in this capacity two terms, thereafter 
engaging in farming. His popularity and success while deputy suggested 
his election to the ofiice of sheriff, which he received in 1887, at which 
time he was given one of the largest votes ever cast in the county. In all 
positions of trust he has discharged his duties in a way to receive the 
applause of every one. As receiver, administrator and trustee, he has met 
with success and given such satisfaction that persons have requested his 
appointment and then volunteered to become his surety. In 1877 he mar- 
ried Miss Laura Gampbell, and is now living three miles west of Win- 
chester. 

Joshua Walker Gore, two years younger than the above named,- obtained 
his college preparation at the Loudoun Academy, then spent two years at 
Richmond Gollege, where his natural bent for mathematics evinced itself in 
his completing the course in a phenomenally short time. From here he 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGKAPHY. 597 

went to the University of Virginia, receiving in two years the degree C. E. In 
the subsequent year Johns Hopkins University was founded, providing as a 
part of its general scheme twenty fellowships. Although nearly 150 graduates 
from the principal colleges and universities in the land made applications, he, 
on the strength of an original discussion on the cycloid, received one of the 
two fellowships in mathematics. After two years' study in higher mathe- 
matics and physics, he resigned to accept the chair of natural science in the 
Southwestern Baptist University, which he subsequently left to accept the 
chair of natural philosophy in the University of North Carolina, where he 
now is. He is an active worker in the Sunday-school and church, in which 
he receives the co-operation of his wife, a daughter of the Rev. J. W. M. 
Williams, D. D., of Baltimore. 

James Howard Gore followed in the footsteps of his brothers in his pre- 
paratory studies, after which he attended Richmond College two years. 
Before completing the course here he was called to Columbian University to 
take the position of tutor in mathematics. In two years he received the 
degree of B, S. and the promotion to adjunct professor, which was fol- 
lowed three years later by his elevation to the chair of mathematics, and the 
degree Ph. D. in the next year in consideration of his labors in geodesy. 
He has spent several of his vacations in charge of parties sent out by the 
United States Geological and Geodetic Surveys, and went twice to Europe to 
participate in similar work there. From the time he was editor of a college 
paper until now, he has been engaged in literary work, assisting Prof. New- 
comb in the preparation of a mathematical series as his first work, which was 
followed by "Elements of Geodesy," '"Bibliography of Geodesy," " Hand- 
book of Technical German," and numerous articles in "Popular Science 
Monthly," "Railroad and Engineering Journal," reports of the surveys 
for the Smithsonian Institute. He is a member of several scientific societies 
at home and abroad, in some of which he has held important ofiices. In 
1889 he married Miss Sparrendahl, of Stockholm, Sweden, and now resides 
in Washington, D. C. 

Daniel Bedinger Lucas, the poet of the Shenandoah Valley, was born 
at Charlestown, Va. , now West Virginia, March 16, 1836. On his father's 
side, Mr. Lucas is a lineal descendant of Robert Lucas of Deverall, Ling- 
bridge, of the county of Wilts, England, who was among the first settlers 
in the province of Pennsylvania. His name is found in the ancient registry 
of Burks county, where he arrived, as we learn from that valuable chronicle, 
"the fourth of the fourth month, 1679," in the good ship " Elizabeth and 
Mary," of Waymouth. ^ 

His wife, Elizabeth, and their children arrived nine months later in the 
sailing vessel "The Content," of London. Robert Lucas was a member of 
the first assembly under Penn's charter of 1682. He signed the ac- 



598 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

fleptance of this great bill of rights, ' ' at Philadelphia, the second month, 
1683." He was a member of the Pennsylvania assembly of 1687 and 1688, 
and died during the session of the latter year. He was a considerable land- 
owner, his farm lying upon Falls river in Burks county, in the parish of 
that name. He left a son, Edward, who was a supervisor in ] 780 of Falls 
iowushii>. In a few years after this date Edward Lucas crossed the mount- 
ains and took up his home in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, settling a 
large tract of land, on the headwaters of Rattlesnake run, which empties 
in the Potomac, a few miles below Shepherdstowu. Ho was twice married; 
his lirst wife was Mary Darke, aunt of the famous Gen. William Darke, of 
Revolutionary fame, and Mary Corn was his second wife. He had seven- 
teen children, the eldest of whom, Edward, Avas born in 1738. 1 In the 
sanguinary annals of Indian warfare of that age, and in the still more de- 
structive campaigns of the old French war, in one of which Braddock fell, 
and in another, Washington became a prisoner, Edv^ard Lucas and several 
of his brothers distinguished themselves by numerous feats of daring cour- 
age and bodily strength in hand-to-hand conflicts with the Indians. In 
Capt. Morgan's celebrated company, which at the first drum-beat of the 
Revolution, marched by a "bee-line to Boston," Edward Lucas was first 
lieutenant. His fifth brother, William Lucas, was perhaps the most in-"! 
trepid Virginian who figured in the old Indian campaigns. He took i;p 
arms at the age of seventeen, and after the death of several brothers, who 
had been massacred with all the atrocities peculiar to savages, his avenging 
rifle rang requiem to many a tawny son of the forest in the wild Virginia 
and Pennsylvania mountains. Gov. Robert Lucas of Ohio, was a son of 
this William Lucas. Edward Lucas, the elder brother of William, also left 
a son Robert, who was born in 17(36 in that part of Berkeley county, Va. , 
now forming Jefferson county, W. Va. This Robert left issue three sons, 
Edward, Robert and William Lucas, the last named father of Daniel Bed- 
inger Lucas. Edward, the eldest of these three brothers, was a soldier in 
the war of 1812, serving as lieutenant in the battle of North Point, and in 
the fight of Crany Island. He was elected to congress from the Valley 
District, in 1833, and served two sessions. William Lucas, his youngest 
brother, also was elected from the same district, and served two terms in 
Congress, from 1839 to 1843. This gentleman was an able lawyer and an 
opulent planter. His beautiful estate called Riou Hall, which he bequeathed 
at his death, in 1877, to his only surviving child, Daniel Bediuger Lucas, is 
situated upon a commanding eminence a short distance from the Shenan- 
doah river, is one of the most picturesque regions to be found in the whole 
Valley of Virginia. The maiden name of William Lucas' wife was Vir- 
ginia A. Bedinger. She was a daughter of Capt. Daniel Bedinger, a Revo- 
Kitionary soldier and a man of great poetical genius. One of the effusions 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 599 

of his pen, styled "The Cossack Celebration," was a poem of extraordinary 
vigor, which would not have discredited the author of Hudibras. 

Daniel B. Lucas was the third child, and second son of his parents. 
After attending several private academies, ho was sent to the University of 
Virginia, during the session of 1851 and 1852. He continued there for four 
years, graduating, on the elective system, in most of the schools of that 
famous seat of learning. Mr. Lucas excelled in oratory, and was the vale- 
dictorian of the Jefferson Society of the University, in 1850. Ho entered 
the well-known law-school of Judge John W. Brockenbrough, at Lexington, 
Va. , and having graduated there, commenced to practice law at Charles- 
town, his native place, in the spring of 1859. At the beginning of the fol- 
lowing year he removed to Richmond, and was in the city when the Civil 
war broke out. He joined the staff of Gen. Henry A. Wise, in June, 1801, 
and served under him during his campaign in the Kanawha valley, which 
terminated October 1, 1801. Mr. Lucas' poems, many of which wore written 
during the war, and were filled with a martial tone, early attracted attention 
to their author as a man of genius. He ran the blockade to Canada, leav- 
ing Richmond January 1, 1805, in order to assist in the defense of Capt. 
John Yates Beall, a college friend of his youth, who was tried as a spy and 
guerrillero, at Governor's Island, New York, by a court-martial, and convicted 
and executed February 24, 1805. Capt. Beall' s defense was conducted by 
the famous lawyer, James T. Brady. Mr. Lucas, not having been permitted 
by Gen. Dix, commandant of the department, to take part in his school- 
fellow's defense, remained in Canada for the next few months, and there 
wrote, shortly after the surrender of Gen. Lee, his celebrated poem, ' ' The 
Land where we were Dreaming," which was published first in the Mon- 
treal Gazette, and afterward reproduced in many papers, both in England 
and the United States. His next publication was a memoir of John Yates 
Beall, containing Beall' s life and diary, and the official report of his trial 
(John Lovell, Montreal, 1805). Mr. Lucas returned to West Virginia shortly 
after the close of the war, but was excluded from the practice of his profes- 
sion by the tost oath, until 1870. On resuming practice, he entered into 
partnership with that distinguished jurist, Judge Thomas C. Green, after- 
ward president of the court of appeals of West Virginia. In 1809-70 he 
was co-editor of the Southern Metropolis, a weekly, published in Baltimore, 
owned and conducted by J. Fairfax McLaughlin, LL. D. Of this paper, 
the late Alexander H. Stephens said: "I have read the Southern Metropolis 
from the first number, and have often said, and now repeat, that it comes 
nearer filling the place of the London Saturday Review than any other paper 
on this continent." Mr. Lucas soon attained high rank in his profession, 
and for the past fifteen years, as the West Virginia reports show, has l)een 
one of the most distinguished and successful practitioners before the court 



600 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of appeals. On the 5th of December, 1889, Judge Thomas C. Green died, 
and Mr. Lucas was appointed to fill the vacancy on the bench of the su- 
preme court of appeals of his state, which position he now occupies. In 
1872 Judge Lucas was Democratic presidential elector for his congressional 
district, and again in 1876. In 1884 he was elector-at-large on the Cleve- 
land ticket in West Virginia. He took a conspicuous part in these cam- 
paigns, as a Democrat of the JefPersonian school, of which he has always 
been an uncompromising champion. His addresses on the "Renaissance of 
the Jeifersonian Democracy," and kindred topics, have exercised a potential 
influence upon public sentiment in West Virginia. Wendell Phillips, during 
the days of the abolition movement, never displayed more resolute purpose 
or inflexible devotion to his cause than Daniel B. Lucas has shown, in his 
rigid adherence, both in practice and oratorical appeals, to the JefFersonian 
standard of Democracy. He has been regent of the State University for 
eight years, of which institution he was unanimously elected professor of law 
in July, 1876, an honor which his large law practice compelled him to de- 
cline. For the same reason, he also declined, in the same year, the office of 
circuit court judge of his circuit, to which he was appointed by the gov- 
ernor, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Hoge. He re- 
ceived the degree of LL. D. in 1884, from the University of West Virginia. 
Mr. Lucas was elected to the legislature of his state in 1884, and took an 
active part in the public business. His opposition to sumptuary laws, and 
to co-education of the sexes in our universities, was very marked, and his 
advocacy of a system of high license as opposed to prohibition, and to 
equalization of taxation upon all property, whether real or personal, cor- 
porate or individual, was earnest, and in some respects effective. He main- 
tained that inequality of taxation, in one form or another, has been the bane 
of all republics. In the fall of 1886 he was re-elected to the legislature. 
His career was chiefly distinguished, while he was in that body, for persistent 
opposition to the corrupt and corrupting influence of "railroad sover- 
eignty ' ' in the state. Mr. Lucas introduced a bill against the acceptance 
and use of free passes by public officials, which he forced through the lower 
branch of the legislature, in spite of a strong but covert opposition on the 
part of monopolists, and their tools; also a bill to compel the railroads to 
fence their tracks; and another for the appointment of railroad commis- 
sioners for the state. His most notable act was his resistance to the tyranny 
of caucus, which proposed to re-elect Senator Johnson N. Camden, president 
of the Standard Oil Company, of West Virginia, to the Senate of the United 
States. In a speech delivered in joint assembly, February 14, 1887, Mr. 
Lucas denounced the denomination of a packed caucus. This speech, which 
was extensively copied by the press throughout the country, settled the con- 
test, and Mr. Camden was defeated. On the 5th of March, 1887, Mr. Lucas 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 601 

was appointed United States senator, by Gov. E. Willis Wilson, in con- 
formity with the provision of the constitutioQ, where no election has taken 
place in the legislature. The legislature reassembled in special session in 
the following April, by call of the governor, and, although prohibited by 
the fundamental law of the State from entering upon the business of elect- 
ing a senator, they proceeded to do so, and elected Hon. Charles James 
Faulkner. A contest upon the seat resulted in Judge Faulkner's favor. 

Mr. Lucas, in 1869, married Miss Lena Tucker Brooke, a great-niece of 
John Randolph, of Roanoke, and of Gov. Robert Brooke of Virginia. He 
has one daughter, Virginia, now approaching the years of womanhood. 
Mr. Lucas' literary works, in addition to the memoir of Capt. Beall, are 
"The Wreath of Eglantine" (Kelly, Piet & Co., Baltimore, 1869), a 
volume of poems written by him, also containing poems of his deceased 
sister, Virginia Lucas; "The Maid of Northumberland," a drama of the 
Civil war (Putman's Sons, New York, 1879), and "Ballads and Madrigals " 
(Pollard & Morse, New York, 1884). Mr. Lucas has further written 
numerous occasional poems and addresses of no inconsiderable merit, which 
he has read or delivered by invitation before literary and patriotic bodies. 
His finest production of this nature is his oration on Daniel O'Connell, 
masterly, as an analysis of the character, and exhaustive, as an historical 
picture of the times of the Irish Liberator. Mr. Lucas resides at Rion Hall, 
and still owns Cold Spring, the old Lucas seat near Shepherdstown. From 
many of his occasional poems, the following may be mentioned as the most 
notable: At the dedication of the Confederate cemeteries, at Winchester, 
1865; at the semi-centennial of the University of Virginia, 1875; at the 
dedication of Confederate cemetery at Hagerstown, 1879; at Charlestown, at 
the unveiling of Confederate monument, 1882; at the annual banquet of the 
New York Southern Society, held in that city, February 22, 1888; and at the 
convention of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Literary Society for the Northwest, 
held at Chicago, October 19, 1887. At each of these places, and before the 
bodies named, Mr. Lucas was the chosen poet, and discharged the duty 
assigned to him in a manner worthy of his literary reputation. At Winches- 
ter in 1865, and at New York in 1888, particularly, the poems he read were 
unusually happy, and will hold a place among his best productions. 
Among his lectures, that on John Brown, at Winchester, 1865; that on John 
Randolph, at Hampden Sidney College, 1884, and the one on Daniel 
O'Connell, already mentioned, are admirable specimens of American 
eloquence. Mr. Lucas prepared his O'Connell lecture for, and first delivered 
it at the invitation of the Parnell Club (August 6, 1886), at the Opera 
House in Wheeling. He was invited to repeat it at Norwood Institute, Wash- 
ington City, April 13, 1888, and again at the State House in the Hall of 
Delegates at Charlestown, W. Va., January 20, 1889. The late Judge 



602 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

AVilliam Matthews Merrick, of the supreme court of the District of Columbia, 
who heard this lecture, when delivered in Washington, declared that for 
power of statement, originality of thought, and gifts as an orator, Mr. Lucas 
was surpassed by no one that he had heard. Laudari a laudato viro, the 
praise of the illustrious, may well be appreciated, and introduced even in so 
dispassionate a paper as this imperfect sketch. 

Philip Williams was of English descent, and a son of Philip Williams, 
who was born in 1771, near Culpeper Court House, Va. , where his father, 
William Williams, owned a large estate, and whence, in early life, he 
moved first to Frederick county, and then to Woodstock, Shenandoah 
county, Va. There he died March 15, 1846, leaving as his record the epi- 
taph on his tombstone: "He was clerk of the county of Shenandoah for 
fifty-four years, and he lived and died without an enemy." 

In Frederick county, Va., on the 15th day of September, 1802, was 
born his son, the subject of this sketch. Owing to financial reverses, which 
befell his father, he was withdrawn from school at the age of fifteen, and 
devoted his time to the duties of deputy clerk to his father, and to the study 
of law. Thus denied further advantages at school, he voluntarily continued 
the study of English literature and history, reading studiously the best 
authors, and thus acquiring the correct style and taste which was character- 
istic of him. Completing the study of law in the office of a relative, an 
eminent lawyer of Richmond, Va. , he came to the bar at Woodstock about 
1823, and such was his reputation with the people of his county that in the 
first year of his practice he brought 150 suits. Soon after this he was ap- 
pointed commonwealth's attorney for the counties of Shenandoah and War- 
ren, and subsequently represented Shenandoah in the Virginia house of 
delegates, and took an active and influential part in shaping the important 
legislation consequent upon the radical changes in the constitution of the 
state made by the convention of 1829-30. February 9, 1826, Mr. Will- 
iams married Ann, a daughter of Maj. Isaac Hite, of the estate of Bell- 
Grove, Frederick county, Va. , well known ia those days as one of the old 
colonial, and, we might almost say, baronial, seats then characteristic of Vir- 
ginia, and of later times, as the scene of stormy events of the war between 
the North and South. His wife had, in an eminent degree, the graces of 
person and character to make their union happy, l:)ut it did not last long, as 
she died March 21, 1833, leaving two young children. December 17, 1834, 
Mr. AVilliams married Mary, the daughter of Dr. Robert and Hannah C. 
Dunbar, of Winchester, to which place he removed his residence, and there 
continued to reside until. his death, April 2, 1868. His vigorous constitu- 
tion and temperate and healthful habits promised a long life, but confine- 
ment in a federal prison, the fearful strain of the events of the war to one 
living in their midst, with the lives of sons and other relatives and a dearly 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGKAPHY. 603 

loved cause at stake, shortened his days and resulted in his death from ap- 
oplexy. By a remarkable coincidence, this occurred during the trial of a 
case in the court- room at Woodstock, thus destined to be the theater of the 
beginning and the end of his professional career. The sense of loss of the 
public in his death found expression in resolutions of respect passed by the 
vestry of Christ Church, of which he was a member, by the directors of the 
bank of which he was president, by the bar and other organizations, and 
his remains were followed to the grave in Mount Hebron Cemetery by a 
large concourse of people, who closed their places of business to enable them 
to pay the last tribute of their respect. 

Save in early life, Mr. Williams declined all the oft-repeated solicita- 
tions addressed to him to hold political ofl&ce, though always taking a firm 
stand and an active part in the support of the principles that commended 
themselves to his judgment. A Jackson democrat when Martin Van Buren 
was nominated by that party, deeming this a desertion of its principles that 
absolved him from further allegiance, he assumed an independent stand, 
and finally became a decided and prominent member of the old whig party. 
Never accepting any of the fruits of victory in office as its rewards, he was 
foremost in the contests upon the hustings, being upon the ticket of his 
party for presidential elector more than once. Deprecating, dreading and 
opposing disunion and secession, yet when the proclamation of President 
Lincoln was issued, he deemed his allegiance due his State in resistance to 
what he believed to be the exercise, by the federal government, of powers 
never vested in it by the constitution of the United States. And, although 
too old for active service himself, he took an active part in all measures to 
arouse the people of his State, and to put troops in the field, and his own 
sons were encouraged and aided by himself and his noble wife to enlist in 
the service of their State. From the stand thus taken, he never flinched, 
though for much of the time his town, and for a part of the time his own 
residence was occupied by the Federal troops. At the same time so free was 
he from excess, and from personal bittei'ness, that citizens and officials of 
both parties and governments sought and received his aid when it could be 
consistently given, and he enjoyed the respect and esteem of both. But 
his well-known prominence as a citizen and a Southern man led to his being 
selected, in the spring of 1864, together with A. H. H. Boyd, D. D., and 
Messrs. R. Y. Conrad, A. S. Dandridge and N. S. White, by the governor 
of West Virginia, for arrest as a hostage, for certain Union men of that 
State, who had been arrested by the Confederate troops. The hostages 
were confined in a military prison at Wheeling, W. Va., amidst surround- 
ings and associations most, uncomfortable, repulsive and vile, until they de- 
manded, as their right as hostages by order of the civil authority, to be con- 
fined in a civil prison. This resulted in their removal to the city jail, where 



604 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

their situation was much improved, and they received much kindness from 
the jailer, and whence, after several months, they were allowed to return 
home, but in the case of Mr. Williams and Rev. Dr. Boyd, with such in- 
jury to their constitutions as to shorten their valuable lives. 

Mr. Williams was from early life a devout communicant in the church 
of his fathers, the Protestant Episcopal Church. As such he stood high 
among the laity, repeatedly sitting in the diocesan and general conventions, 
and taking high rank therein as a logical, forcible debater, and from his 
training and attainments as a lawyer, being of especial value in aiding to 
frame legislation. His churchmanship was what was known as the Vir- 
ginia School of Low Churchmen, and the heroic and saintly Meade, Bishop 
of Virginia, ever looked to him for that aid in council and conflict, which 
was always freely rendered him. The calmness and impartiality of judg- 
ment, and the sense and love of justice to all men, in his case spiritualized 
into the Christian charity so eloquently portrayed in Holy Writ, which were 
so characteristic of him, enabled him, while acting consistently upon his 
well-considered convictions of preference for his own church and that school 
of it to which he belonged, to see the merits of other churches, and to deal 
with those who advocated them with justice and loving kindness. Thus 
recognizing good measures and men wherever he found them, he was ever 
ready to lend his aid to such. Amid the many demands of an unusually 
active and busy life, he found time for the duties of superintendent of the 
Sunday-school of his church, and only resigned them shortly before his 
death upon the advice of his physician. 

But better than from any words of the writer of this sketch, will the 
standing of Mr. Williams in his church appear in the following notices of 
his death: In Mr. Williams we lose almost the last of those eminent 
jurists by whom in the general conventions which preceded the Civil war, 
our church was strengthened and adorned. Singularly simple in his private 
life, a model of integrity and purity, of great eminence as a lawyer, de- 
vout and zealous as a Christian, eminently clear, resolute and vigorous in 
debate, it was our earnest hope and prayer that he would be found at the 
next general convention, representing Virginia with that same noble ability 
which he displayed in other days. He was indeed the fitting successor of 
Mr. Key, as the leading lay representative of that noble body of church men 
in Virginia and Maryland, with whom both of them were so closely associ- 
ated. It was not merely forensic and parlimentary power that won for him 
so high a position. In this respect indeed he was a match for any one of 
the eminent men that met him on that floor. But above all there shone 
forth in all that he said or did a manly truthfulness which could not but 
command respect. There was about him the same charm that marked Chief 
Justice Marshall, to whose school as well as to whose section he belonged; 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 605 

the charm, not of gracefulness but of high courage, entire self oblivion, 
simple devotion to the right, directed by a judgment peculiarly clear, and 
accompanied by manners singularly simple. And now we shall never see 
him again, nor again repose in these earthly courts upon that clear judg- 
ment, that firm purpose and that powerful reason. — Boston Christian W^it- 
ness. 

And the following extract from the address of Bishop John, of the dio- 
cese of Virginia: " I can not close this obituary list without a record of 
our bereavement by the death of Philip Williams, of Winchester, so long 
and favorably known in the council of the diocese and the general con- 
vention. His unafPected piety, clear intellect, accurate acquaintance with 
ecclesiastical matters, and happy facility in advocating truth, made him 
seem, especially at this time, invaluable." 

But it is as a lawyer that Mr. Williams was best and most widely known 
among the peojJle of the Lower Valley. Indeed his name and fame as such 
became among them as familiar as *' household words." Shortly after his 
removal to W^inchester, he formed a partnership in the practice of law with 
David W. Barton. Both of high standing as lawyers and men, of qualities 
and predilections that made each the complement of the other, it is believed 
that it is not claiming more than is universally conceded to say that while 
among the able lawyers who were their associates were to be found their 
peers in many respects, they surpassed all others in the extent, scope and 
volume of their practice, and its success in all branches of the law was only 
terminated by the lamented death of Mr. Barton in July, 1863. While 
fully capable of filling the role of advocate, as demonstrated by his success 
whenever he essayed it, Mr. Barton much preferred to attend to the oflice 
business, and undisputed chancery matters of the firm, and to leave to his 
partner the litigated and contested matters in court. As a result, in such 
matters Mr. Williams was more especially known. In the course of a long 
and varied practice he appeared in many courts, from the supreme court of 
the United States and of his own state to that of justice of the peace; and 
in them all he was at home and ready to meet fully all demands upon him, 
as demonstrated by the marked success which so often crowned his efforts. 
The explanation of this was probably to be found in the fact that his compre- 
hensive knowledge embraced not only an accurate and philosophical knowl- 
edge of the statutes and decisions constituting the law and of the funda- 
mental principles underlying them, but a singularly wide acquaintance with 
the affairs of life in their practical details, a happy faculty of learning such 
of them as had been hitherto unfamiliar when it became of use to do so, and 
an intuitive perception of human nature, strengthened by long experience. 
These qualities, combined with the rapid, easy and sound workings of a 
vigorous mind, and the capacity essential to great lawyers and great gener- 



606 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

als, of rapid perception of the pivotal points of the contest, made him a 
strong man before a jury. He was an adept in the difficult art in which so 
many fail, that of cross-examination of a witness, and with the people 
among whom he practiced his profession many traditions remain of his 
skill in this regard. Owing doubtless to the same qualities, in his speeches 
before court or jury he was rarely lengthy or elaborate, but went to the 
points as he conceived them with the directness and force of a rifle-ball. 
Thus while not, in what is perhaps the most generally received acceptance 
of that much-abused term, eloquent, he was an exceedingly eflPective speaker 
with courts and with juries. And this after all is a much more probable 
meaning to be given to the much-misunderstood term of the great Grecian 
orator in defining eloquence as " action,' ' than mere vociferation and gesticula- 
tion; for in the arguments of council as well as in the testimony of witnesses 
there are such things as verbal acts — speeches which strike the hearers as 
being not so much discourses about events as events themselves. Never 
straining after effect, or making sentences for their own sake, it will be seen 
at once that a man of the qualities, moral and mental, already indicated, 
was capable when the occasion demanded it of power or pathos that at 
times swayed the heads and hearts of his hearers as the tempest the waves 
of the sea. And of this, did space permit, more than one instance could 
be given. Add to these qualities, a beautiful domestic character, unaffected 
courtesy of manner, kindness of heart, integrity of character, firmness of 
principle, equanimity of temper, a brave devotion to duty that knew no 
shrinking from whatever lay in its path, and firm reliance on a Higher 
Power, and it will be easy to believe that such a life and character left its 
impress on his times and his people such as no history of this kind would be 
complete without some sketch of his life and character. 

And for like reasons must be added some mention of his widow. A de- 
voted wife and mother of great energy and force of character, coupled with 
kindness of heart and manner, she had always extended her usefulness be- 
yond the limits of her own large family. But during the war she spared 
nothing in her constant care for the Confederate soldiers, well or sick or 
wounded, at her own home and in the hospitals, as many a grateful man will 
attest. And after the close of the war, before such a movement had been 
initiated elsewhere by individual or government, in the late summer of 1865, 
she inaugurated the movement, which taken up by those she called to her aid, 
notably her sister-in-law, Mrs. A. H. H. Boyd, resulted in the dedication, 
in October, 1866, of the Stonewall Cemetery, into which had been gathered 
the remains of 2,500 Confederate soldiers from the battle fields within 
a circle of twenty miles around Winchester. To appreciate this, it must 
be remembered that the time, labor and money needed to accomplish such a 
task were given by a people whose very fields had been swept by war, and 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 607 

who were then straining every nerve to retrieve their shattered fortunes. 
It is not to rob the many who responded to her appeal and did so much in 
aid of her efforts to state the conceded fact that to Mrs. Williams was due 
not only the initiation of this enterprise, but to her more than to any other 
one person its successful prosecution. The beautiful monument, " To the 
Unknown and Unrecorded Dead," which rises in the center of the cemetery, 
was erected in fulfillment of her wish and purpose, and largely as a result 
of her efforts. But she was not permitted to behold it with her earthly eyes, 
for shortly prior to its dedication, which took place June 6, 1879, in the 
sixty-seventh year of her age, on the 2d of April, 1879, the eleventh anni- 
versary of her husband's death, her unselfish spirit returned to the God who 
gave it. 

The children of Mr. Williams were as follows: By his first wife; Philip 
C, who, after careful study of the art of medicine in this country and 
Europe, practiced his profession in Baltimore, Md., where he now resides, 
eminent in his profession and in all good works, and his daughter, Ann, 
who was married in early womanhood to Thomas T. Fauntleroy, now one 
of the judges of the court of appeals of Virginia, and who died shortly af- 
ter the birth of her son, Philip Williams Fauntleroy, now one of the rising 
men of the St. Louis bar. Of those by his second wife, nine in number, 
three died in early childhood, one just in budding womanhood, and five sur- 
vive him as follows: Mary, the wife of Rev. J. Avirett, of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, widely known as the devoted chaplain of Ashly's brigade 
during the war, and the biographer of its chivalric leader in peace. The 
other daughters, Lucy D. and Sallie E., reside at the old homestead, and 
his sons, John J. and T. Clayton, after serving in the ^rmy of Northern 
Virginia to the very end, now as lawyer and physician, practice their re- 
spective professions in Winchester, the former being his father's partner at 
the time of his death. 

The Porterfield Family. The first of this family emigrated from Eng- 
land early in the eighteenth century and settled in Pennsylvania. Thence 
about 1738, two of his sons, William and Charles, removed to Virginia and 
settled in Frederick county. William bought a tract of land in the north- 
ern part of what is now Berkeley county; Charles settled near Winchester. 
The issue of Charles were Robert, Elea,nor, Charles and Rebecca. Robert 
was adjutant of Col. Daniel Morgan's regiment, in the war of the Revolu- 
tion; afterward aid to Gen. William Woodford, and was surrendered with 
him at the siege of Charleston, S, C, 1780. He was brigadier-general of 
the militia in the war of 1812. In 1783 he purchased a farm in Augusta 
county, upon which he lived until his death, in 1843. He married Rebecca 
Farrar, of Amelia county, and had issue: John, who married Betsy, a 
daughter of Rev. John McCue; Mary married Lewis Wayland; Charles 



608 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

died in early life ; Rebecca married the Hon. William Kinney, of Staunton. 
Their descendants live principally in Augusta county. Rebecca died un- 
married. Charles, also an officer of Col. Daniel Morgan's regiment, was 
killed (unmarried), a lieutenant-colonel in the battle of Camden, S. C, in 
1780. Eleanor married Mr. Heath, attorney-general of Kentucky; no 
issue. The issue of William were William, Alexander, Charles (killed by 
Indians September, 1756), and George. William served in the Revolution- 
ary war, was a magistrate of Berkeley county in 1785, and high sherifp in 
1803. His issue were John, George, Charles (died in early life), Alexander 
(died in the service of the United States at Norfolk, in the war of 1812), 
William, Nancy and Mary. John married Nancy Pendleton, and was a mem- 
ber of the legislature at the time of his death, in 1824; no issue. George 
married Mary Tabb, issue: George Alexander, who married Emily (sister of 
Gen. William R. Terrill,U. S. A. ;Gen. James B. Terrill, C. S. A., and Lieut. 
Philip M. Terrill, C. S. A.; all three killed in the Civil war of 1861); and 
Ann, who married Magnus Tate Snodgrass; both have issue. William married 
a Miss Williamson, and they left issue; Mary married Elijah Harlan and 
removed to Kentucky, and they left issue; Nancy married George Chrisman, 
and they left issue; Alexander married Elizabeth Sheerer; issue: John S., 
Archibald, William S. (died unmarried), Rachael and Martha. John S. 
married Julia Porterfield, no issue; Archibald member of the legislature, 
married Miss Towson, of Washington county, Md., and they left issue; 

Rachael married ; Martha married a Mr. Newkirk, and they left issue; 

George, a magistrate of Berkeley county, from 1799 till his death in 1842, 
for many years presiding justice of the county court, twice high sheriff 
under the old county court system, and several times a representative in the 
legislature; married Rachael Vance; issue, William A., Alexander, Hamil- 
ton (all died unmarried), Mary, Martha and Julia. Mary married George 
Tabb and left issue; Martha married William Cunningham, no issue; Julia 
married John S. Porterfield, no issue. 

Col. George A. Porterfield (son of George, as above stated) graduated at 
the Virginia Military Institute in 1844. He was adjutant of the Virginia 
regiment in the war with Mexico, and succeeded Capt. Irwin McDowell, U. 
S. A., as assistant adjutant -general of the division at Buena Vista, from 
October, 1847, to the end of the war. In May, 1861, he was appointed 
colonel of volunteers in the Confederate service, and was sent to Grafton 
with orders to enlist troops. Finding that superior forces of United States 
troops had collected at Wheeling and other points, menacing his position, he 
decided to evacuate Grafton as untenable by the small force at his command. 
He consequently, ordered the destruction of the bridges between Grafton 
and Wheeling and Parkersburg, and withdrew his command to Philippi, in 
Barboixr county. At that place his command, consisting of about 750 men, 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 609 

was surprised by a Federal force of 3,000 under Gen. Morris, on the night of 
the 2d of June. He was relieved of command by Gen. Robert S. Garnett July 
14. He subsequently served on the staflP of Gen. W. W. Loring, and was 
with him during Gen. R. E. Lee's campaign in Western Virginia; also 
when Loring' s army united with Jackson's in the movement toward Han- 
cock, Md., in January of 1862. He was afterward in command of a brigade 
under Gen. Edward Johnson, but retired from the service in May, 1862. 

Edgar Allen. Among the early settlers of Warren, then a part of 
Shenandoah county, Va., was Col. Thomas Allen, the youngest son of 
Robert and Abigail (Du i^ois) Allen, and born in 1732, in County Armagh, 
Ireland. At an early age he came to this country, and settled in Warren 
county as a farmer. Possessing a vigorous mind and the strictest integrity, 
he had great force of character. He served as a soldier during the Revo- 
lution, and for gallantry was presented by his state with a sword. He 
married Debora Montgomery Millar, by whom he had five sons and two 
daughters, dying at the age of ninety. He left a landed estate, comprising 
over 6,000 acres, stretching for miles along the south fork of the Shenan- 
doah river. A part of his family went to Kentucky to live, soon after its 
settlement, where their descendants are numerous and prosperous. David 
Hume Allen was the youngest son of Col. Allen, and was born in June, 
1781. After graduating at Princeton College, he studied law, and prac- 
ticed at the courts of Frederick and adjoining counties. In 1808 he married 
Sarah Griffin, eldest daughter of Col. Griffin Taylor. Soon after the death 
of Col. Taylor, in 1818, he abandoned the law, and lived at Clifton, Clarke 
county, the inheritance of his wife, then a part of Frederick. Here he spent 
the remainder of his life, relieving the duties attendant upon the manage- 
ment of a large estate by the pleasure of literature and society, and in em- 
bellishing a naturally beautiful place. He died in his seventy- fourth year, 
Mrs. Allen, five sons and three daughters surviving him. The following is 
an extract from a tribute paid to his memory by the late Philip Fendall, 
former district attorney of the District of Columbia: 

Mr. Allen was of the comparatively few survivors of a class once numer- 
ous in Virginia, who had fine talents and a liberal education, added to the 
advantage of hereditary wealth, an advantage so favorable when properly 
used, to mental culture and embellishment. He graduated at Princeton 
College during the presidency of the celebrated Dr. Smith. The love of 
letters, and the habit of intellectual discipline which he there acquired, con- 
tinued to influence him through life.. With the various branches of litera- 
ture and science he had an intimate acquaintance, and of some his knowl- 
edge was exact. His independent spirit, his acute and vigorous mind, his 
extensive information, and the firmness and moderation of his character, his 
familiarity with the history and resources of his country, and his devotion 

37 



610 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

to her best interests, all eminently qualified him for piiblic life, but its con- 
tentions were distasteful to his modest and sensitive temper, and he could 
never be prevailed on to forego, for the prospect of political distinction, the 
tranquil enjoyments of home. His time was given to his family, his friends, 
his books and his farm. In the domestic circle, in agricultural pursuits, in 
the indulgence of a refined literary taste, in dispensing a liberal but unos- 
tentatious hospitality, he lived a long and honored life, exemplary in all its 
relations; as a husband and father, afPectionate and thoughtful, a kind mas- 
ter, a faithful friend, charitable and courteous, he was, in a word, a Vir- 
ginia gentleman of the old school. 

James Gather, of Scotch-Irish descent, born in 1795, in Frederick 
county, died in 1875, and, while ten years were added to his " three-score 
and ten,' ' the house in which his first cradle was rocked, also sheltered his 
bier. Early in manhood he married Miss Ann Howard, a lady of Irish 
birth, endowed with beauty, amiability and common sense to a very marked 
degree; whose maiden name is still preserved in each generation of her 
descendants. The fruit of this union was seven children: Perry, John, 
William, Clark, Howard, Addie (now Mrs. John Purcell) and Sidney, the 
widow of Mahlon Gore. Perry died at the age of twenty-three, leaving as 
the halo of a brilliant life, exemplary conduct and rare attainments, with 
which fathers still stimulate their sons to deeds of merit. The other 
brothers died more recently, all leaving, with the exception of Howard, 
sons and daughters, descendants worthy of the examples of sobriety, 
industry and thrift set by the preceding generations. Few, very few men 
ever lived in Frederick county who bequeathed to posterity a record so 
enviable, so inspiring as the one formed for himself by the subject of this 
sketch. In him was found a type of manhood, as rare as it is exalted, 
grand in other's eyes, humble only in his own. An industrious farmer's life 
gave to him a robust body; honorable transactions, peace of mind; while a 
childlike faith in the mercy of God brought rest to his soul. His manners 
were unaffected, genial, and courteous, and his bearing was dignified, but 
never restrained. Possessed of a mind of judicial bent, having the ability 
to hear with discrimination and decide with promptness, no wonder he was 
chosen to discharge the duties of magistrate for many jj^ears. At that time 
magistrates decided cases now carried to the county court. More than 
fifty persons confided to him the task of executing their wills, or administer- 
ing the laws with reference to their estates. It is confidently believed that 
his labors in this direction were totally devoid of profit to himself, since he 
relieved debtors whom he was obliged to push, by buying their property at 
the highest price to which he could force it. In all of his experience, 
giving to widows the maximum the law could permit, watching the interests 
of the orphans as if they were of his own flesh and blood, and regarding 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 611 

eveiy legatee as the object of especial consideration, there was but one who 
found fault or questioned his correctness. As an arbitrator he stood pre- 
eminent. The financial troubles of the citizens of his community were 
largely his troubles. When men's farming implements and household 
goods were sold for debt, as was then of frequent occurrence, it was no 
uncommon thing for him to buy all that was sold, and say to the oppressed, 
' ' Keep it, provide for your family and pay me as you can. ' ' 

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Gather was a haven for the orphan and deserv- 
ing poor, many of whom still live to call them blessed! When his garners 
and cribs were full, no speculator's tempting prices induced him to sell as 
long as he had reason to think the poor in his neighborhood had need of 
his supplies. A prodigy of liberality, yet always with enough and to spare. 
Fully verifying, "There is that scattereth and yet increaseth!" 

In farming and stock-raising he met with great success, much of which 
was due to the fact that no detail was too minute to receive his personal 
attention. Economy of time as well as of material things, brought large 
returns; filling his mind by judicious reading, with useful facts and poetic 
fancies. These, a responsive memory placed at ready disposal for quick 
repartee or apt quotation; which, with his ready wit and fund of general 
information, rendered him a most agreeable companion, eagerly coveted by 
young and old. 

He was opposed to the traffic in slaves, and, seeing no way of restoring 
to them the liberty which must inevitably come, except abolition which 
would impoverish the holders, he chose other channels for investment. 
Nearly all of his children shared his views to such an extent that but few 
slaves were ever in their possession. 

In politics he was a whig of the Henry Clay type, and though his county 
was very decidedly democratic, the confidence of the people in his honesty 
of purpose and purity of motives was so great that he was twice elected to 
a seat in the state legislatiire, in 1840 and 1844. 

He was opposed to secession upon principle, and while a member of the 
convention which was considering the question of Virginia's seceding, he 
said, " If Virginia secede she will open her bosom for a common burying 
ground for the whole world;" a prophecy which subsequent years saw ful- 
filled. But when his state did secede, his Southern blood and chivalry 
made him an earnest sympathizer with her interests, and contributer to her 
cause. 

In the ten years following the close of the war he never exercised his 
right of suffrage, saying, "Voting has become too promiscuous. " Thus 
lived this model man, so exercising the God-given powers of mind and body 
that the eye never became dimmed, the arm enfeebled, nor mental faculties 
clouded, until he laid down in his final sleep, and was placed beside the 
ashes of his parents, to arJ&e with them to "newness of life." 



612 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

James Henry Burton, mechanical engineer, Kernstown, was born of 
English parents August 17, 1823, at Sbannondale Springs, a romantic spot 
on the eastern bank of the Shenandoah river, in Jefferson county, Va (now 
West Virginia). 

After receiving an education at the West Chester Academy, Chester 
county, Penn., he entered, at the age of sixteen years, a machine works in 
Baltimore, Md., to learn the business of practical machinist, and graduated 
therefrom four years later. In 1844 he took employment as machinist in 
the Rifle Works of the United States Armory at Harper's Ferry, Va. ; in 
1845 was appointed foreman of machinists at those works; in 1846 was ap- 
pointed assistant inspector there, and on November 13, 1849, received the 
appointment of acting master armorer of the entire armory, which position 
he held until early in 1854, when he was appointed to the position of mas- 
ter machinist, an office then specially created with the view of his filling it. 
Receiving an eligible offer from the Ames Manufacturing Company, of Chic- 
opee, Mass., he resigned the last-named position in May, 1854, and left 
Harper's Ferry to undertake the superintendence of the construction of a 
set of special machines for making gun stocks for the Enfield rifle ordered 
of the above company by the British government, for the Royal Small Arms 
Factory at Enfield in England, being so engaged for about one year, and 
residing meantime in Springfield, Mass. At the conclusion of his engage- 
ment with the Ames Manufacturing Company, in 1855, he was offered by 
the British government, and accepted the appointment of chief engineer of 
the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, near London, England, to take 
entire charge of the mechanical development and technical management of 
that extensive establishment, the main purpose of which was to inaugurate 
in England, and it may also be said in Europe, the manufacture of rifles on 
what is known as the "interchangeable principle," by machinery, an art up 
to that time of which but little was known outside of the United States. 
This responsible position he held for the succeeding five years, when, in 
consequence of failing health, he was compelled to resign the position, 
and returned to the United States in October, 1860, at which time the En- 
field factory was producing 100,000 rifles per year, and employing 1,700 
operatives. On the conclusion of his engagement, the British government 
gave him handsome testimonials of approval, presented him with a bonus of 
£1,000 sterling, and sent_him and his family back to the United States free 
of all expense. 

Immediately on his return to Virginia, he was summoned to Richmond 
by Joseph R. Anderson & Co. , proprietors of the Tredegar Works in that 
city, who had contracted with the State of Virginia to equip the State 
Armory at Richmond with all the latest machinery, etc. , for the manufacture 
of rifles of a pattern subsequently prepared by him. and he accepted the 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGEAPHY. 613 

position of mechanical engineer for that purpose, and at once entered upon 
his duties. Before the completion of the contract, the state of Virginia, 
with the other southern states, seceded from the Union, war was declared, 
an,d the Virginia State troops captured the United States Armory at Har- 
per's Ferry, with all its machinery, etc. This placed at the disposal of the 
state all the facilities required for the manufacture of arms. The contract 
with Joseph R. Anderson & Co. was annulled by agreement, and Mr. Burton 
was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of ordnance in the ordnance department 
of Virginia, by Gov. John Letcher, June 1, 1861, and placed in charge of 
the Virginia State Armory, with instructions to arrange for the removal 
thereto, with the utmost dispatch, the machinery, etc., captured at Harper's 
Ferry and place it in position for use. This he accomplished, and within 
ninety days from the date of his commission he had the machinery at work 
in Richmond, producing rifles of the United States pattern. After con- 
ducting the armory for a time on state account, the state of Virginia, 
for reasons of expediency, entered into a compact with the govei'nment of 
the Confederate states, by which the state relinquished the conduct of the 
armory and turned it over to the general government, " for use during the 
war," whereupon he resigned his commission in the State Ordnance Depart- 
ment, and was commissioned, September 2, 1861, by President Jefferson 
Davis "superintendent of armories," with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, 
and continued in charge of Richmond Armory, with the additional duty of 
supervising the general conduct of all the minor armories throughout the 
Confederacy. In the spring of 1862 the Confederate states government 
decided to take steps to erect, at suitable points, permanent establishments 
for the manufacture of arms, powder, ammunition and all ordnance stores, 
upon which he was relieved from the command of Richmond Armory on 
May 22, 1862, and ordered south with instructions to select a suitable loca- 
tion for an armory of large capacity, purchase the requisite land, prepare 
plans for buildings, etc., and proceed at once to carry into effect the 
desired object, by entering into contracts, for the execution of the various 
works. This resulted in the location of the armory at Macon, Ga. , and at 
the close of the war, in April, 1865, the work had so far progressed that a 
handsome brick and stone building of two stories in height, 625 feet in 
length by forty feet in width had been erected, in which about 3,000,000 
brick had been laid. One wing of this building had meantime been occu- 
pied for the manufacture of pistols, and he had been ordered to Europe on 
business for the war department, remaining abroad daring the summer of 
1863, and running the blockade from and to Wilmington, N. C. , returning 
in, from necessity, by daylight and under fire from three blockading vessels 
lying off of Fort Fisher, but escaped unscathed. Macon, Ga., was the last 
place captured during the war, being taken possession of by Gen. James H. 



614 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Wilson, commanding cavalry corps, military division of the Mississippi, on 
the 20th of April, 1865, and by whom he was paroled. ' Soon after his 
enterincf upon his duties at Richmond Armory in 1861 he received a com- 
munication from the Spanish government, offering him the position of chief 
engineer of a small arms factory at Oviedo, in Spain, but which offer he 
was not in a position to entertain, and declined. 

In the fall of 1865, after recovering from a severe illness, he left Macon 
and went to Europe with his family, remaining abroad most of the time in 
London, England, until the spring of 1868, when he returned to Virginia 
and located in Loudoun county, where he had purchased a farm, and upon 
which he resided until the spring of 1871, when he again went to England, 
at the instance of a private firm in Leeds, to take the direction of a contract 
entered into with the Russian government for the supply of the entire plant 
of machinery, etc., for a small arms factory on a large scale to be erected 
at Tula, in Central Russia, for the manufacture of the Berdan rifle, and with 
the view of his ultimately going to Tula as an officer of the Russian govern- 
ment to take the technical direction of the factory. This purpose, however, 
was changed, in order that he might remain in England to take charge of a 
private armory in Birmingham, which he had also in the meantime engi- 
neered, and which' was to fulfill a contract with the German government for 
the supply of a large number of a breech-loading rifle of a new pattern, just 
then adopted by that government. The mental strain, however, incident to 
the development of the mechatjical details of two distinct small arms fac- 
tories, for the manufacture of two distinct tyj^es of arms, at once proved too 
great for his endurance, aud he was prostrated for months with scarcely an 
even chance for recovery. But he had substantially done his appointed 
work meantime, and both factories were eventually completed and success- 
fully operated. 

Much to his regret, he was constrained to resign his position, and returned 
to Virginia again in the fall of 1873, since which time to the present he has 
been following the peaceful pursuit of a farmer within a few miles of Win- 
chester, Frederick Co., Va. , taking an active interest in the affairs of the 
Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Society of Winchester, as a member of the 
board of directors. Although filling many positions of responsibility both 
at home and abroad, he can say that he never solicited one. He regards as 
the most notable of his experiences his connection with the Enfield Small 
Arms Factory in England, which attracted the attention of all the govern- 
ments of Europe as being a great and ultimately entirely successful me- 
chanical experiment, since copied generally throughout Europe. His life 
has been full of interesting incidents and experiences, but which can not 
be related in this brief sketch. 

Green Family. About the year 1660 Robert Green emigrated from 
England to America and took up his residence in Culpeper county, Va. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGEAPHY. 615 

He was the parent head of a large number of distinguished men now bear- 
ing that name, scattered through the various states of the Union. Norvin 
Green, of the Western Union, Gen. Duff Green, of Kentucky, the grand- 
father of John C. and Patrick Calhoun, of New York and Atlanta, respect- 
ively, and other men of talent and enterprise, belong to this family. Rob- 
ert Green was the father of six sons, one of whom was William Green. 
William Green was a seafaring man, belonging to the navy, and was lost on 
the brig Defiance. William Green was the grandfather of Judge John W. 
Green, of the court of appeals of Virginia, who married Millian Cooke, 
the eldest daughter of Mary T. Mason, eldest daughter of George Mason, 
of Gunsten Hall. Mary T. Mason was the wife of John Cooke, of West 
Farm, in Stafford county, Va. Judge John W. Green was the father of 
Judge Thomas C. Green, or Claiborne Green, as he was familiarly called. 
Claiborne Green was born in Greenwood, Culpeper county, Va. , in 1820, 
and died at Charlestown on December 4, 1889. At the ^idvice of Col. 
James M. Mason, he left Culpeper to practice his profession in Charlestown. 
After remaining here one year, he formed a partnership with Col. Angus Mc- 
Donald, at Romney, Hampshire Co., W. Va. At Romney he remained 
several years, and there he married Mary Naylor, eldest daughter of Col. 
McDonald, and soon after removed to Charlestown to resume his law prac- 
tice. At the time of that "overt act," John Brown's attack upon Harper's 
Ferry, he was mayor of Charlestown, and was so noted for his sterling traits 
of justice and humanity that he was appointed counsel at John Brown's re- 
quest to take charge of his trial. The friends of Brown, however, made 
other arrangements, and Judge Green withdrew. 

When the war became fully under way he enlisted as a private in Com- 
pany B (Botts' Greys), and was at that time a member of the state legis- 
lature. He served through many hard-fought battles, beginning from the 
first battle of Manassas down to the capture of New Berne, N. C, having 
served through both campaigns in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Because of 
his quiet patriotism, Claiborne Green would have remained thus in the ranks, 
but Col. Mason, minister to England, had his attention called to this fact 
through his daughter, Mrs. John B. T. Dorsey, who then resided in Rich- 
mond, and he immediately wrote to President Davis of this oversight and 
neglect. Mr. Davis at once recalled him by a letter of appointment to a 
place at the head of the tax collectorship of the State of Virginia, where he 
served until the surrender, leaving Richmond when the other officials left, 
on April 3, 1865. At the close of the war he again returned to JeflPerson 
county, and remained there until his death. Judge Green first served on 
the supreme bench, by appointment, in 1875, by Gov. Jacobs to succeed 
Judge Paul. He was re-elected in 1876 to fill the term, and was again 
elected for twelve years in 1880, and was on the bench when he died. 



616 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Judge Green was one of the most distinguished jurists in the two Virginias. 
His opinions were sought and highly valued by members of the bar all over 
the state. His knowledge of the law was profound and his opinions from 
the bench plain, forcible and comprehensive. Two of his opinions, one on 
the law of separate estate of married women, reported in the Thirteenth 
West Virginia Reports, in the case of Radford et al. vs. Carwile et al. ; the 
other on the subject of " punitive damages," reported in Thirty-first West 
Virginia, in the case of Pegram vs. Stortz, rank as leading cases in the state 
and elsewhere. 

The key note of Judge Green's success at the bar was his love of the 
profession of the law. His ruling sentiment in that regard was not the ac- 
quirement of a business, simply, a means for the attainment of wealth or 
fame, but as a science deserving of deeper motives; a life-work the results 
of which would place his labors on a higher plane than those resulting from 
name or fortune; a work, in a word, that would give to his fellow-man deci- 
sions and principles commensurate with the lofty intentions of the law as 
an actual as well as abstract science. What seemed arduous labor to oth- 
ers, to follow through a labyrinth of conflicting decisions, and thoroughly 
deduce them to their ultimate conclusions, was to him the delight of an art- 
ist painting some favorite picture ; and in this way he rendered valuable serv- 
ice to the infant state of \A' est Virginia, by settling many mooted questions 
of the law on plain, philosophical and scientific bases. 

The Parkers or the Northern Neck of Virginia. The first member of 
this family, of whom any positive knowledge now exists, was Dr. Alexander 
Parker, who made his home in Tappahannock, in the county of Essex. 
The house in which he lived was destroyed by fire within the past few years, 
and for a considerable time was occupied by Col. John A. Parker, one of 
his descendants. From the beginning, this family has been reputed as 
belonging to the family in England designated as the Navy Parkers. The 
will of Dr. Alexander Parker is on record in Essex county. It shows that 
he was the owner of a large and valuable property in lands and personalty, 
which by it passed to his three sons and two grandsons. His sons were 
named Alexander, William and Richard, the last of whom he constituted 
his residuary legatee. Alexander and William, and his two grandsons 
(who bore the same names), long since removed from the old homestead, and 
the Parkers of the eastern shore of Virginia, and most likely those living 
in the counties of Southampton, Isle of Wight and elsewhere, are descended 
from them. 

Richard, the son mentioned above, in early life settled in Westmoreland 
county, and, as Mr. Daniel Call, in Volume IV. of his reports (in which 
he gave sketches of the early judges on the Virginia bench), on page 24, 
says, "practised law in the county courts with great reputation," and "in 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 617 

all the contests of Great Britain and the colonies, he took part with his 
native conntry, was an ardent friend to the Revolution, and during his 
whole life devoted to liberty. " He presided at the first popular meeting 
held in the colonies to declare themselves entitled to become free and inde- 
pendent communities. This meeting was assembled at Leedstown, in West- 
moreland county, on February 27, 1776. 

This Richard Parker resided in that county at Lawfield, which was so 
called because it had long been the home of Edward Baradel, an eminent 
lawyer in colonial days. On December 24, 1751, he married Miss Eliza 
Beall, of a very respectable family of the Northern Neck (to which belongs 
Mr. Richard Beall, a lawyer of distinction, who a few years since was a 
representative in the United States congress). On January 4, 1788, he was 
elected by the legislature a judge of the general court of Virginia, and 
held the office until his death in 1813, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. 

Judge Parker had five sons. The eldest was Richard, who, at the earli- 
est appearance of hostilities with Great Britain, raised a volunteer company 
for the war of 1776, fought with great distinction under Washington at 
Trenton, and the other battles in New Jersey, rose to the rank of colonel, 
and was continuously in active service until at last shot to death on the 
ramparts, at the siege of Charleston, S. C. , at the early age of twenty-two 
years. Gen. Harry Lee, in his "Memoirs of the Southern Campaign," 
makes special and most flattering mention of him, and says he was worthy 
to have served with the Great Frederick of Prussia. 

Gen. Alexander Parker was his second son. He too was an officer in 
the Revolutionary army, and continued in active service until the close of 
that war, and in the same memoirs he is honorably mentioned. When our 
independence was achieved, he was retained in the army of the United 
States, and after the purchase of the Louisiana territory was in command 
at New Orleans. He was also engaged in the war of 1812 with Great 
Britain. He died about 1820, and some of his descendants are yet living 
in Westmoreland, his native county. 

Gen. Thomas Parker, the third son, was also an officer in the Revolution- 
ary army, and (as will be seen in several letters of Gen. Washington 
published in the Eleventh Volume of " The Writings of Washington," by 
Jared Sparks, on pages 428, 457, 460-466), in 1799 was the colonel of the 
Eighth United States Regiment, and had command of the forces then en- 
camped at Harper's Ferry, in anticipation of an invasion of this country by 
the French. He was also an officer in the war of 1812 with Great Britain, 
and was engaged at Lundy's Lane, in Canada. He resided and died at the 
Retreat, on the Shenandoah river, in that portion of Frederick which, since 
his death, was cu.t off and formed into the county of Clarke. He left no 
descendants. His only child, a daughter named Eliza, had married Stevens 



618 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

T. Mason, of Loudoun county (who had been a member of the United 
States Senate), and died, without children, before her father. 

The fourth son of Judge Parker was William, a farmer, who, during the 
war for our independence, commanded the "Tempest," a vessel of the Vir- 
ginia navy. 

A fifth son was named John. He was too young to take part in the Rev- 
olutionary war, and died in 1810. He was the father of Col. John A. 
Parker, of Tappahannock, yet living in his eighty-sixth year, who has filled 
with distinction several offices under the Federal government. 

William Parker, above mentioned as the fourth son of the first Judge 
Parker, left several children. The eldest, named Richard E. Parker, was 
born in Westmoreland county, on December 27, 1783. He studied law 
with his grandfather at Lawfield, engaged in its active practice, represented 
his county in the Virginia legislature for a brief period, was married on 
June 2, 1809, to Elizabeth H. , a daughter of Dr. William Foushee (a promi- 
nent citizen of Richmond, Va.), commanded a regiment of state troops dur- 
ing the war of 1812, and was actively engaged, mostly along the Potomac, 
during the invasion of the state by the British. Soon after its close he re- 
moved to the city of Richmond, and there pursued his profession until July 
26, 1817, when he was appointed a judge of the general court, and at first 
presided over the circuit courts of the Norfolk circuit, when, after the adop- 
tion of a new state constitution in 1830, he was, at his own request, trans- 
ferred by the legislature to the newly-arranged Frederick circuit, after 
which he resided until his death at the Retreat, which had been the home of 
his uncle, Gen. Thomas Parker, and continued to hold his office of judge un- 
til December 12, 1836, on which day he was elected by the legislature to 
the senate of the United States, but resigned therefrom on March 4, 1887, 
to accept a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, 
to which he had been elected in the preceding February. He continued in 
this office until his death, on September 9, 1840, in the fifty-seventh year of 
his age. He left several children, among them a son, the only one who 
reached manhood, Richard Parker. 

This Richard Parker is a resident of Winchester, Va. , born in the city 
of Richmond, October 22, 1810. He graduated in law at the University of 
Virginia, and practiced his profession in the state courts. In the spring of 
1849 he was elected a representative in the XXXIst congress of the 
United States, and, whilst serving in that body, was elected by the legisla- 
ture a judge of the general court of Virginia, and presided in the circuit 
courts of the Frederick circuit, and was twice afterward elected by the peo- 
ple to the same office. During the larger part of the Civil war between the 
states these courts could not be held; but at its close he was again ap- 
pointed to his former position, and continued to discharge its duties until 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY, 619 

the early part of the year 1869, when he was displaced by order of the 
United States military commandant, who had absolute and entire control of 
the state, then designated a military district. 

Whilst on the bench, John Brown and several of his accomplices, in their 
armed invasion of the state, in October, 1859, were tried before him at 
Charlestown, Jefferson county, which then pertained to the Winchester 
circuit, but is now a part of West Virginia. 

Another son of William Parker was Foxhall A. Parker, who entered the 
United States navy at an early age, was captured at sea during the war of 
1812, and carried a prisoner to Halifax. He rose to the rank of commodore, 
then the highest grade in our naval service. His son, Foxhall, rose to the 
same rank, and died at the naval academy at Annapolis, of which at the 
time he was superintendent. He had other children: Robert, who was in 
the United States army, and died while on duty in Florida; Capt. William 
H. Parker, who was in the navy, but resigned on the breaking out of the 
Civil war, entered the navy of the Confederate states, and was most actively 
engaged therein until after Lee' s surrender at Appomattox Coiirt House ; 
also Daingerfield Parker, who is now a lieutenant-colonel in the United 
States army. 

William Parker, the grandfather of the last-named Foxhall, also left a 
daughter, Juliet, who married Leroy P. Daingerfield, by whom she had a 
large family; among them the late Judge William Daingerfield, of Califor- 
nia; and Capt. Foxhall Daingerfield, a lawyer of Harrisonburg, Va. , who 
was in the Confederate army throughout the strife between the northern 
and southern states, and was always distinguished for his gallantry and 
soldierly qualities. 

William Page Caetee, Boyce, was born near Antield, Clarke Co., 
Va. , in September, 1836. His father was Thomas Carter, of Anfield, and 
his mother Ann Willing Page, of Pagebrooke. Mr. Carter, after the usual 
instruction afforded by the neighborhood schools, took a course at Rumford 
Academy in King William county, Va. At the breaking out of the Civil 
war he was engaged on his father's plantation in Louisiana, whence 
he entered the Confederate service, attaching himself to the artillery branch 
of arms, where he served throughout the war, but was captured some time 
before the close of hostilities and placed in Fort Delaware, remaining in 
that lovely and luxurious retreat for about one year. Capt. Carter attained 
the command of his battery in 1862, having been promoted to a captaincy 
through gallantry and merit. After the war he returned to Anfield, and 
married, in 1867, Lucy R. Page, daughter of Dr. Robert Powell Page, of 
Clarke county. He located on the property known as " The den," a por- 
tion of the famous ' ' Saratoga ' ' tract, owned and thus named by Gen. 
Daniel Morgan, of Revolutionary fame. He is an Episcopalian and a 
democrat. 



620 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Capt. Carter for several years has been engaged in giving public recita- 
tions, and- is recognized as one of the most entertaining and effective read- 
ers before the American public, having appeared in New York, Baltimore, 
and other cities, where the press have spoken of his efforts in the highest 
terms. 

The MoGuiee Family. The present family of McGuire in Virginia, 
trace their ancestry as far back as James McGuire, who married Cecelia 
McNamara Reigh, and lived at Artford, County Kerry, Ireland. Constan- 
tine, son of James, married Julia McEllengot, and also lived in County 
Kerry, Ireland. 

Edward McGuire, son of Constant! ne, was the first of the McGuire 
family to come to America. In 1751, while on his way to Austria to join 
the staff of Gen. McGuire, landing at Lisbon, Portugal, he was stricken 
with yellow fever. After his recovery he returned to Ireland, sold his pat- 
rimony, and invested it in wines, which he brought to Philadelphia and 
sold. He then came to Alexandria, Va. , and thence to Winchester, in 1753. 
He built a hotel where the Taylor Hotel now stands, but never kept it him- 
self. He was a highly educated man, always conversing with his friend, 
Bishop Carroll, of Maryland, in the Latin language. He gave the ground 
and built the old Roman Catholic Church of Winchester, and died in 1806, 
aged eighty-six years. He first married a Miss Wheeler of Prince George 
county, Md., and by their marriage were born three sons and two daughters. 
The latter, Nancy and Betsy, never married. Of the sons, John, the eldest, 
moved to Kentucky; William, the second son, married a Miss Little, and 
this couple had threp sons and three daughters. All of the sons of William 
were clergymen in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and one of his daughters 
married Mr. John E. Page, of Clarke county, Va. Edward, the third son 
of Edward, married Miss Betsy Holmes. 

Edward McGuire, Sr. , married the second time, Millicent Dobee being 
the lady, and by that marriage were born three children: Samuel, who 
never married; Susan, who married William Naylor, and one other daughter 
who married Capt. Angus McDonald, whose children were Angus, Edward 
and Millicent. 

Edward, the third son of Edward, and the grandfather of Dr. Hunter 
McGuire, of Richmond, Va., and Dr. W. P. McGuire, of Winchester, was 
a farmer by occupation, and at one time owned the McGuire Hotel of Win- 
chester. He married Miss Betsy Holmes, and the result of this marriage 
was seven children: Rebecca, who married Dr. Mackey; Millicent, who mar- 
ried Mr. Alexander Tidball; Hugh Holmes, Edward, William, David and 
John. Edward McGuire died in 1828, and his wife March 28, of the same 
year. 

Dr. Hugh Holmes McGuire, son of Edward, was born at the Grove farm 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 621 

five miles south of Winchester, November 6, 1801, and spent almost his en- 
tire life in the town of Winchester. He was educated at the Winchester 
Academy, and graduated in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He 
began the practice of medicine in 1822, and was in active practice up to the 
time of his death, August 9, 1875. He was a man of decided character and 
originality of thought, and was recognized as the leading physician through- 
out the county and state, and was held in the highest esteem by all who 
knew him. He was most distinguished in surgery, and was the founder of 
the Winchester Medical College, filling the chair of surgery in that institu- 
tion, and was so engaged until the breaking out of the Civil war, during 
which time the building was burned by the Federal troops in the early part 
of that great conflict. Although well advanced in years. Dr. McGuire was 
with the cause so heartily that he accepted a commission as surgeon in the 
Confederate army, and had charge of the hospitals at Greenwood and Lex- 
ington. He was married to Ann Eliza, daughter of William Moss, of Fair- 
fax County, Va. , and nine children were born to them, five of whom are 
living — three daughters and two sons: Gertrude, Mrs. William Taylor of 
Clarke County, Va. ; Gettie and Annie. 

Dr. Hunter McGuire, one of the most distinguished surgeons of the 
south, is the eldest son of Dr. Hugh H. McGuire, and was born in Win- 
chesterj in October, 1835; was medical director of the Army of the Valley 
District and of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia of the Con- 
federate states. He now lives in Richmond, Va., where he has resided 
since 1865. He married Miss Mary, daughter of A. H. H. Stuart, of Staun- 
ton, Va. The second son, Edward, died in 1882, a^ed forty-five years. 
The third son, Hugh Holmes, was captain of Company E, Eleventh Vir- 
ginia Cavalry, and was mortally wounded at High Bridge, Va. , April 5, 
1865, and died May 8, 1865. The fourth son, Dr. W. P. McGuire, was 
born July 19, 1845, and was educated at the Winchester and Greenwood 
Academies, Va. He enlisted in the Confederate army as private, in July, 
1863, and served until the close of the war. He was held a prisoner for 
nine months at Point Lookout, Md. He graduated from the Medical Col- 
lege of Virginia, in 1867^^ and has since been engaged in the practice of 
medicine in Winchester, where he still resides. In 1871 he married Nannie 
H. , daughter of the Hon. John Randolph Tucker. Their family consists of 
six children. 

Gen. J. G. Walkek, Winchester. (The following is copied from an 
article that appeared in Leslie's Magazine shortly after the confirmation of 
Gen. Walker:) 

" Gen. John G. Walker, recently confirmed by the senate as United 
States consul-general and secretary of legation to Bogota, United States 
of Colombia, S. A. , was born sixty-two years ago in Howard county, Mo. , 



622 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of Virginia parents. His grandfather was a colonel in the English army, 
from which he resigned, emigrated to Virginia, and married Miss Mary- 
Meade, daughter of Andrew Meade, of Nansemond county, of that state. 
In the Revolutionary war he espoused the cause of the American patriots, 
and was adjutant of Baylor's cavalry regiment, and subsequently was on 
Gen. Washington's staff. Gen. Walker's father married, at the 'Hermit- 
age,' a niece of Gen. Andrew Jackson, and settled in Missouri. His only 
son, John G. Walker, the subject of the present sketch, was educated in the 
Jesuit College, at St. Louis. On May 6, 1846, he was appointed first lieu- 
tenant of the Mounted Rifles, United States army. He served gallantly in 
the war with Mexico, under Gen. Scott, participating in the battles of Con- 
treras, Cherubusco and Molino del Rey, in the latter of which he was 
wounded. He was brevetted captain, August 1, 1847, ' for gallant and 
meritorious service ' in the affair of San Juan de los Lanos. After the 
termination of the Mexican war, Capt. Walker served in Oregon, California, 
Kansas, Nebraska, Florida, Texas and New Mexico. When the Civil war 
broke out, he resigned his command in the United States army, and was 
commissioned a colonel, and later on promoted to brigadier-general in the 
Confederate service. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia, com- 
manding a division at Harper's Ferry and Sharpsburg. He was subse- 
quently promoted to a major-generalship, for ' gallant conduct ' in the bat- 
tle of Sharpsburg. In December, 1862, he was transferred to the command 
of a Texas division, serving in Arkansas, which participated in the battle of 
Pleasant Hill and the bloody battle of Mansfield, La., defeating Gen. Banks 
in his Red River expedition, and was then ordered with his division against 
Gen. Steel, in Arkansas, where Gen. Steel was driven back in the battle of 
Jenkins Ferry, in 1864. In June, of that year, Gen. Walker was assigned 
to the command of Louisiana, and, subsequently, to that of Texas, New 
Mexico and Arizona, and was in command of that department when the 
' Stars and Bars ' were furled at Appomattox by the incomparable Lee. 
Since the close of the Civil war Gen. Walker has been engaged in mining 
in Mexico and engineering, and in railroad operations in the southwestern 
states." 

Since Gen. Walker's appointment as consul-general at Bogota, he has 
been very successful in the diplomatic service, from his being so perfect a 
Spanish scholar. He made an extradition treaty with Colombia that was 
much needed, and from Bogota was detailed to settle the Santos claim with 
Ecuador. From there he was chosen as special commissioner from the 
United States to invite the South American powers to the conference in 
Washington. 

The Bakee Family. Henry Baker was born in Germany in 1731; came 
to this country about 1755 (only a few years after Winchester had become, 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 623 

by act of the colonial legislature, the first established town in the valley), and 
purchased land on the west of the town. Part of this land has been owned 
continuously by his descendants, and is now the property of his great-grand- 
son. He married Maria E. Fink, in Winchester, in 1759, and died in Win- 
chester in 1807. 

His son, Henry W. Baker, who was born in AVinchester in 1760, was 
married in Frederick, Md. , to Catherine Miller, in 1786 (her father was 
Maj. John J. Miller, a Revolutionary officer). He engaged extensively in 
the mercantile business (having a large trade with Tennessee) and amassed 
a large fortune. He died in Winchester in 1837, leaving ten children. 

Jacob Baker, son of Henry W. , was born in Frederick, Md., in 1789. 
After serving in the war of 1812 as quartermaster at Norfolk, Va., he became 
a partner with his father in business on Main street. He was married, in 
Winchester, in 1814, to Catherine B. Sti-eit (Catherine B. Streit was a 
daughter of Rev. Christian Streit, the first Lutheran minister born in 
America). His family consisted of eight sons and six daughters: Henry S. , 
William B. , Camillus S. , Augustus (who died in infancy), George B. , Jacob 
E., Robert M. , Christian S. , Susan C. , Harriet E., Mary Virginia, Julia E., 
Emma F. (who died at the age of thirteen years, eight months) and Portia 
B. On the completion of the Winchester and Potomac Railroad in 1837, he 
opened, in connection with his brother, George W. , a large wholesale estab- 
lishment at the depot. He was very successful in all his business ventures, 
and retired from active business in 1845, having contributed largely to the 
upbuilding and improvement of the town, and, though not ambitious for 
public place, filled many offices of trust and responsibility, among them the 
presidency of the Winchester & Potomac Railroad Company. He died in 
1874, at the advanced age of eighty-five years, transmitting to his descend- 
ants that which he inherited from his fathers, the priceless legacy of an 
untarnished name. The three oldest of his seven sons, Henry S. , William 
B. and Camillus S. , succeeded him in business. 

Henry S. Baker was born in 1814, and entered his father's store at a very 
early age. He engaged in mercantile business on his own account, on Main 
street, from 1837 to 1840. He was married in 1840 to Catherine Price (who 
died in 1851), and in 1858 to Aletta W. Hunt. By the latter he had nine 
children, of whom three sons and two daughters are now living. In 1841 
he became a partner in the firm of Jacob Baker & Sons, at the railroad 
depot, and continued a partner in the various successors of this firm, viz. : 
Baker & Brown, Baker & Bros. , and Baker & Co. A man of large public 
spirit, he was often called to positions of honor and trust, acting frequently 
as president of the town council. He died in February, 1889, having retired 
from active biisiness only about a year before. 

William B. Baker was born in 1818; was an engineer on the Winchester 



624 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

& Potomac Railroad at the age of sixteen years and eight months, assisted 
in making a survey for a railroad from Winchester to Staunton in 1836, and 
was- assistant engineer on the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad when eight- 
een years of age. In 1837 he entered his father's store as salesman and 
purchaser, and was made a partner in 1841. He was married in 1842, in 
Frederick, Md. , to Elizabeth Mantz. He had seven children, three sons and 
two daughters are now living. He established the firms of Baker & Co. , in 
Martinsburg, in 1856, and of Baker Bros., in Staunton, in 1866; engaged 
in flour manufacturing in 1866, and in 1872 built the steam flouring-mills 
near the depot. He organized the Winchester Gas Company in 1854, and 
continued as its president until his death; became president of the Shenan- 
doah Valley National Bank in 1868, and held this position at his death. He 
died in August, 1888, having been in active business life over fifty-one years. 
Camillus S. Baker was born in 1822, became a salesman in the firm of 
Jacol) & George W. Baker in 1840; engaged in mercantile business on 
his own account on Main street in 1842; became a partner in the firm of 
Jacob Baker & Sons in 1845, and continued a member of the succeeding 
firms until 1888, when he retired. He was married in 1849, in Frederick, 
Md. , to Annie E. Gaither, and still resides in Winchester. His family con- 
sists of four daughters. George P. Baker and Christian S. Baker were asso- 
ciated in business with W. B. Baker in Martinsburg, in 1856, and in Staun- 
ton in 1866. In 1869 they succeeded to the business. They now reside in 
Staunton, C. S. Baker being vice-president of the Augusta National Bank. 
George P. was born in 1828, married in 1861 to Lyle McCleary, and in 
1868 to Hattie Cook. By the latter he had eight children, seven now living. 
Christian S. was married in 1867 to Fannie Baylor, and has three children. 
Jacob E. Baker was born in 1828, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and 
now owns and resides on a part of the land purchased by his great-grand- 
father, 125 years ago. He was married in 1867 to Mary Ellen Miller, and 
had eight children, seven now living. Robert M. Baker was born in 1834, 
became a minister in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and married Louisa 
F. Davidson in 1862, and had ten children, eight now living. He died in 
1883, whilst in charge of a church in Georgetown, D. C. Susan C. married 
Oliver M. Brown in 1838, and died in 1880; she had ten children, seven 
now living. Harriet E. married Henry M. Brent in 1848, died in 1873, 
and had one child, who died in 1876. Mary Virginia married Rev. C. P. 
Krauth, D. D., LL. D., in 1855, and had four children, three of whom died 
in infancy. Julia E. married A. McK. Boyd in 1857; she died in 1859, 
leaving two children. Portia B. resides in Winchester, Va. Albert and 
Alex. M. Baker, sons of William B. Baker, now own and operate the flour- 
ing mills built by their father, and William H. , son of William B. , and 
Harry H. , son of Henry S. , have succeeded to the business of Baker & Co. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 625 

The Fonsten Family. Oliver Funsten, a member of the CJiurch of 
England, came to this country the latter part of the eighteenth century, when 
a young man, from the northeastern part of Ireland, and settled at White 
Post, Clark Co., Va. He was a very prosperous merchant, and enjoyed 
pre-eminently the confidence of all who knew him, for his integrity, sound 
judgment and the firm maintenance of his convictions. It was often said 
of him that his name was a synonym for integrity. He married Margaret, 
daughter of Andrew McKay, eldest son of Robert McKay who came to 
Virginia from Scotland, and according to an ancient parchment (dated at 
Williamsburg, October 3, 1734), and still in the possession of the family, be- 
came the lessee of 828 acres of land, " lying and being on the western side 
of the Shenando River, on both sides of Crooked Run, to be in a county 
called Orange." This tract of land lay in the counties now Frederick and 
Warren. Oliver Funsten died in 1829, leaving a widow and ten children: 
the eldest, Fanny W. , married James Withers, a merchant of Front Royal; 
Sarah Young, married James Gordon Bryce, a lawyer who represented the 
county of Frederick for several years in the house of delegates of Virginia; 
Maria, married Jesse A. Bynum, a lawyer and representative in congress, 
from North Carolina, for a number of years; Margaret, married Maj. 
Richard Bennett, paymaster in the United States army, after whose death 
she married Richard E. Byrd, a prominent lawyer of Winchester, Va. ; 
Julia Anne, married George W. Ward, a lawyer who represented Frederick 
county for a number of years in both branches of the legislature; Emily 
Funsten, who now resides in Winchester; Robert Grey, the eldest of the 
three sons, died at the age of nineteen; Oliver Ridgway, the second son, a 
graduate of one of the medical schools of Philadelphia, married Mary C. , 
daughter of David Meade, and after her death he married Mary, daughter 
of James Bowen, of Albemarle. When the "war began in 1861, Oliver R. 
entered the Confederate army and was a gallant officer, being colonel of 
the Eleventh Virginia Cavalry, from the beginning to the close. He re- 
turned to his home, broken in health and fortune, and survived the war only 
a few years, dying July 14, 1871. David, the third son, was a graduate of 
Princeton College, New Jersey; also a graduate in law, which he practiced 
successfully in Alexandria, Virginia and Washington City. He married 
Susan M., daughter of David Meade, Esq., of Clarke county. He joined 
the Confederate army when the war began, rendered gallant service as 
colonel of the Eleventh Virginia Infantry, until severely wounded, which 
disabled him from field service. He was then elected representative in the 
Confederate congress from the Seventh District, and served with great 
credit and honor to himself, to the close of war. He died April 6, 1866. 
Elizabeth, the youngest child, died in infancy. 



626 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

William Arthor Carter, deceased, was born on Opequon creek in 1799 
and died in 1857, his birthplace being about four miles from Winchester. 
He was a son of Arthur Carter, who lived at same place during life and 
died in 1846. He was engaged in farming and in the manufacture of pa- 
per and woolen goods. He commenced life in limited circumstances, but 
in time acquired a fine farm, a woolen mill and a paper manufactory; also 
owned a number of slaves in his time. He married Mary Kerfoot, who died 
in 1821, and to that union there were twelve children. He subsequently 
married Widow Ruth Noble, nee Berryhill, who died in 1852 without issue. 

Our subject, W. A. Carter, married in 1824 Sarah C. Beeler, daughter 
of Col. Benjamin Beeler, of Jefferson county, W. Va., and to this marriage 
were born William A. ; Mary E., who married and went to Missouri and died 
there; and Mary E. (two by same name) the only one now living. She is the 
widow of James T. Milton, living in Chicago, 111. Subject's first wife having 
died, he married, in 1836, Mary C, daughter of Lawrence Pittman, 
of Shenandoah county, Va., and their children were John L. (dead), Rob- 
ert K. (living in New York City), Joseph M. (living in North Carolina), 
Charles, Berryhill M. (married in 1876 to Mary Gray Caldwell, of Freder- 
icksburg, Va.), and George H., born April 13, 1850, and married in 1881 to 
Eva Carroll, daughter of Charles M. Castleman, of Clarke county, whose 
children are Anna Lee, Alice Mary (dead), Walter C, Eva West and Edith 
C. The only daughter of subject, Anna L., is dead. Mr. Carter, at his 
death, owned about 1,300 acres of land, known as the Carter estate, which 
suffered heavily during the war, the heirs losing everything except Carter 
Hall and the laud. The estate was divided among eight heirs, two of whom 
now own and farm their part: George H. and Berryhill M. He was a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church for a number of years. 

William Hodgson, farmer and minister, Winchester, was born January 
12, 1815, near Round Hill, Frederick Co., Va., four miles from Win- 
chester. At the age of twenty-six he married Elizabeth, daughter of 
Henry and Sarah (Witzel) Millhon. He then moved one mile nearer Win- 
chester, having bought a farm of forty acres at what is known as Chambers - 
ville, Frederick Co., Va., upon which he lived seven years. He then 
engaged with Robert Y. Conrad, of Winchester, to superintend a farm for 
him at the foot of Round Hill. This farm is now owned by Mr. Hodgson's 
son-in-law, Martin F. Yeackley. , After holding this position for eight years, 
he bought a farm of 186 acres, where he now lives, known as the Nutt farm, 
four and one-half miles west of Winchester; also three houses and lots in 
Chambersville. Besides his occupation of a farmer he has served thirty odd 
years as a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Their chil- 
dren were: James Harrison, who died young; Martha Ann, now Mrs. Martin 
F. Yeackley; Henry Watson, now physician at Cumberland, Md. ; William 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. ^ 627 

Powell, who died in 1865, and Sephie, now Mrs. James Fling, of Loudoun 
county, Va. Mr. Hodgson is a grandson of John Hodgson, born on the 
Hudson river, N. Y., and came to Virginia as one of the first settlers near 
our subject's present place of residence. He was the father of six sons 
and two daughters. Our subject's father, Robert Hodgson, was born in 
Frederick county, and was a shoemaker by trade, but the latter part of his 
life he was a farmer. He married a Miss Long, and to them were born two 
children, both of whom are dead. His wife dying, he married Lurena 
Watson, of Eastern Virginia. Their children are Robert, Elijah, John, 
Elizabeth, Henry, William and Abner. Mr. Hodgson is the only one living. 
He is a democrat. 

McCoRMicK Family. The first McCormick who came to this country was 
Dr. John McCormick, from Ireland. He probably came to the Valley be- 
tween the years 1730 and 1740, as there is an old stone house that was 
built and owned by him near Summit Point, Jefferson Co., Va. ,the date 
of building being 1740, which is on the house. He was a graduate of the 
University of Dublin. 

Francis McCormick, who was no doubt the son of the above Dr. John 
McCormick, and from whom the descendants in Clarke originated, was born 
April 17, 1734. He was married twice, the name of the first wife not cer- 
tainly known. Miss Frost was the second wife. Francis had seven sons 
and two daughters. Five sons settled in that part of Frederick county now 
comprising Clarke county, and each owned a valuable farm. They were 
men of great strength of character, energetic and enterprising. The sons 
of Francis were: Provin (or Province), a soldier in the war of 1812-14, 
acting as colonel (he owned the farm called "Soldiers' Retreat," now 
owned by Charles Hardesty; he married Miss Davenport, of Jefferson 
county, and had a large family, all of whom left this State many years 
ago; he died March 3, 1826); Thomas (see below); /Samuel (mari-ied 
Miss Margaret Hampton and settled near White Post (he was a farmer, also; 
he had two sons and one daughter, and died in June, 1823; his son, 
Thomas, had one son and two daughters, one of whom married ex-Gov. Hol- 
liday, and the other married Dr. Lippitt; his son, Thomas, is living in the 
county and is one of the largest land owners and most successful farmers); 
William, who died July 29, 1824, was twice married, the first wife be- 
ing Elizabeth Rice, and the second Mrs. McDonald (by the first marriage he 
had four children — one son and three daughters, Province, the son, was a 
prominent man in the county, and a lawyer of ability and influence; some 
of his children are still living in Clarke County; two of William McCor- 
mick' s daughters married and went to Kentucky; Harriet, the youngest, 
married Ross Milton, of Clarke County, and left four children, one son and 
three daughters, two of whom are living in Clarke; Province, son of Will- 



628 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

iam, died July 4, 1873); George, the sou of Francis by the second mar- 
riage, with Miss Frost, married Miss Mitchell, of Prince William county 
(he had two sons and four daughters, all of whom are dead; some of his 
grandchildren are living in the county; he died March 25, 1846). Two of the 
seven sons of the first Francis, who, as shown at the beginning of the sketch, 
was a son of the original first McCormick, who settled in this section, left 
Virginia when young. 

Province McCormick, son of William, studied law under Alfred Powell, 
of Winchester, and began the practice of his profession in 1822, continuing 
at the bar forty- eight years, and retiring in 1870. He died July 4, 1873. 
He was commonwealth's attorney for a quarter of a century. He had a 
large practice, was a very prominent man in his profession, and was fre- 
quently tendered high official positions, but as often refused the trusts. In 
1823 he was married to Miss Margaretta Holmes Moss, daughter of William 
Moss, of Fairfax county, Va. There were eleven children born to this 
union, all but five dying in infancy. Of these Dr. Charles McCormick, a 
surgeon in the army, was a member of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson's staff. 
He died from exposure in the Confederate service in 1862. One daughter, 
Mrs. Annie R. Brown, wife of Dr. J. Conway Brown, is living in Clarke 
county; Hugh H. entered the army (Confederate service) at the age of six- 
teen, and served through the war, studied law with Judge Parker, of Win- 
chester, coming to the bar in 1867, and was actively engaged in the practice 
of the law until his death, in 1870. 

Province McCormick rs a graduate of the University of Virginia. He 
entered the army as a Confederate soldier, in 1863, at the age of sixteen, 
and served until the close of the war. He is the owner of large landed 
estates in Clarke county, and is actively engaged in agricultural pursuits. 

Marshall McCormick, born in 1849, became a graduate of the University 
of Virginia, and began the practice of law in 1871. He studied under 
Judge Parker, of Winchester. He was mayor of Berry ville three successive 
terms, was commonwealth's attorney for Clarke county for nine successive 
years, when he resigned. He was then elected a member of the state sen- 
ate for a period of four years. He is the author of the election law of 
Virginia, which went into effect in 1884, and is the law of the present time. 
He was a member of the National Convention which nominated Cleveland 
in 1884. Mr. McCormick started the practice of law without a dollar, but 
has been most fortunate, having never made less than $5,000 a year, while 
his income for years past has been $10,000 annually. He is now the owner 
of four farms and 700 acres of land. During the past four years he has de- 
voted himself to the raising of thoroughbred trotters, having over $15,000 
invested in fine horses. 

Names of the children of Thomas McCormick, who married Ann Frost, 
and their descendants: 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 629 

Charles (who was the largest landholder ia the county of Clarke, and 
who lived and died at "Cool Spring," which he bought of Admiral Worm- 
ley of the British navy, where there are now some very interesting inscrip- 
tions, of date 1784, written by the Wormleys; Charles was never married); 
Dawson (who was a farmer; he married Florinda Milton, and had by 
her three children: Edward, who was a graduate of Princeton, was a 
man of great intellect and was one of the leading farmers in the county; 
William, who was also a farmer; Ann, who married John Stribling. Each 
of these have children living and own valuable real estate in the county); 
Abraham, Samuel, Thomas and William were farmers and never married; 
Francis (who was a farmer, was elected July 28. 1856, and served until 
July 23, 1860, as presiding justice of the county court; he married Rose 
Mortimer Ellzey, of Loudoun county, Va. , and by her had eight children — 
three sons and five daughters, five of whom are still living: (The eldest, 
Mary, married Col. Marshall McDonald, who was then professor at the Vir- 
ginia Military Institute and now United States fish commissioner; Cyrus, Jr., 
a graduate of the school of medicine of the University of Maryland, married 
Nannie, daughter of L. B. Taylor, of Alexandria, Va. , and is now a physician 
of large practice; he entered the Confederate army when seventeen, and was 
wounded at the battle of Brandy Station, Va. ; Nannie, who married Thomas, 
son of Thomas, who was the son of Samuel and Margaret (Hampton) McCor- 
mick; )Samuel, a graduate of the school of law at Washington and Lee Uni- 
versit>y, Va., who is now a commission merchant and farmer. He, Samuel, 
married Esther M., daughter of G. W. Lewis; Rose Ellzey, widow of Lorenzo 
Lewis, deceased) ; the eighth son of Thomas McCormick and Ann Frost was 
Cyrus, Sr. , a graduate of Princeton College, a distinguished physician and 
most influential representative in all public afPairs in 4he county; Han- 
nah (who married William Taylor, Sr. , and was the mother of William 
Taylor, Jr., who married Grertrude, daughter of Dr. Hugh McGruire. of Win- 
chester, Va. He entered the Confederate army at the beginning of the war 
and served with great distinction and attained the rank of major; Eliza, 
who is. the widow of A. B. Tucker, a son of Judge Tucker, of Virginia, and 
who was professor of the medical college and in charge of the Confeilerate 
hospitals, at Savannah, Ga. , at the time of his death); Eliza (who mar- 
ried Thomas, son of Samuel and Margaret Hampton McCormick, had three 
children — two daughters and one son: Hannah, the eldest, married ex- 
Gov. Holliday, and died without issue; Nannie, who is dead, married 
Dr. C. E. Lippitt, and had by him six children; Thomas married Nan- 
nie, a daughter of Francis, son of Thomas and Ann Frost McCormick, and 
had by her four children, two of whom are still living). 

The early members of the McCormick family were singularly unobtru- 
sive people, content in the happiness derived from their own family rela- 



630 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

tions, being extremely clanish, and at least one branch of the family were 
evidently people of the strongest local attachments, for a large family set- 
tled and remained until death in the vicinity of their birthplace. Both the 
men and the women of the family, so far as the writer's observation could 
reach, were without guile, strictly honorable, affectionate, domestic and court- 
eous. One of their most marked characteristics was their great regard for 
truth. Dr. John McCormick took up a large grant of land, which was sub- 
sequently divided among his children, of whom there were seven sons. 
These seven sons scattered, some to Pennsylvania, and others to different 
parts of the west. One of the oldest members of the family writes: " Dr. 
McCormick was a highly educated man, who brought over with him a valu- 
able medical library, which was sold at his death to Dr. Cramer, the then 
leading physician of Charlestown, who came over from Ireland at a much 
later date." 

There was a notice published some years ago, in one of the New York 
papers, of the land of Dr. John McCormick having been one of the first 
tracts surveyed by young George Washington. One of the heir-looms of 
the family was an old English prayer-book, from which much of the data in 
this article was gleaned; unfortunately it was destroyed during the late war. 
This prayer-book was given by Francis McCormick to his son Thomas Mc- 
Cormick, at the time of his marriage; in it was a family tree on parchment, 
a very valuable and curious relic. One page represented Dr. John Mc- 
Cormick in a blue broadcloth suit with brass buttons; another, the marriage 
scene, and yet another, Anne McCormick with a bine bodice and yellow silk 
or satin skirt, with a branch of something in her hand and a bird; another? 
a death scene, coffin, etc., and a notice of dates, births and deaths beneath. 
The dates were all in 1700. The contemporaries and intimate friends of the 
earlier members of the family were Dr. Wood, an eminent physician; 
the Mooters, who then lived at Mansfield; the Clares, who intermarried with 
the Fitzhughs of Fauquier, and Mr. Warner Throckmorton's family. (He 
was a nephew of Mr. Warner Washington, his wife was Miss Llewellyn); and 
the Comptons. There were only two daughters in this branch of the Mc- 
Cormick family. They were unusually attractive, and much beloved by their 
brothers. Eliza, the younger, married Thomas McCormick; died early in 
life Hannah married William Taylor, and lived to a ripe old age. She 
was the embodiment of womanly virtues, beautiful in face and character, 
the consoler of her family in sorrow, and the sharer of their joys and 
pleasures. The children of the connection ever found in her that ready 
sympathy that calls them to give her the highest place in their affections, 
and so may well be remembered as the children's friend. One of the most 
remarkable members of the McCormick family was Charles McCormick, 
owner of '' Cool Spring." He was strikingly handsome, and his papers evince 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 68l 

a most wonderful business talent. He died single and bequeathed a valuable 
estate, that he had accumulated by his own business attainments, to his 
heirs. Dr. Cyrus McCormick, his brother, was also another gifted member 
of the family who died single; he, with his brother Samuel McCormick, 
inherited " Cool Spring " from their brother Charles. Samuel McCormick 
was one of the defenders in the war of 1812. Francis McCormick married 
Rose Ellzey of Loudoun county, and resided first at Weehaw, and then at 
Frankford, where he died in 1872. He was a man respected and beloved 
by all his neighbors. 

Robert H. Renshaw, Boyce, is a son of Benjamin Renshaw, who was 
born in London, England, in 1791, his father being William Renshaw, 
junior partner of his cousin. Sir Francis Bristow, in the prominent banking 
firm, of Sir Francis Bristow & Co., in London, toward the end of the last 
century. His father was a lineal descendant of Henry VIII. 's sergeant at 
arms, Reynshaw. William Renshaw married twice: fii'st, Martha Hutchin- 
son, cousin of Sir Francis Bristow, and second, Anne Christie, cousin of 
the laird of Ardivvy, of Scotland. His father was married in the Cathe- 
dral at Funchal, by the bishop of Madeira, to Donna Francisca de Luna 
Medicis de Orea, daughter of the Chevalier Don Gonzalo de Orea, knight 
of the most distinguished Order of Santiago of Spain, and colonel in the 
Spanish army. Her mother was Donna Francisca de Luna Vargas 
" Machuca " y de Medicis, who traced her descent from the grand dukes of 
Tuscany; and her father, Don Francisco de Luna, Salamanca de Fonseca, 
of the highest order of Spanish lineage, traced his descent, as evidenced 
by his genealogical tree in the possession of the writer, to the ancient 
kings of Hungary. During a temporary visit to this country from Venez- 
uela, where our subject's parents resided, he was born at Bristol, Penu. , 
in 1833, returning with them to Venezuela as an infant. There he re- 
mained until he was twelve years of age, when he was sent to the United 
States to be educated. After graduating at Harvard with the class of 1854, 
he was admitted to the Baltimore bar in 1858. In 1859 he married Lucy, 
daughter of Thomas and Ann Willing Page Carter, of Clarke county, Va. 
The children of this marriage all died in infancy. He subsequently mar- 
ried Maria, daughter of Dr. Charles Carter, who married Emily Blight, 
of Philadelphia. Dr. Charles Carter was the son of Williams Carter, uncle 
of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Of this marriage two children survive: Charles 
Carter and Emily Maria Carter Renshaw. In 1881 he married Annie 
Carter Wickham, daughter of Gen. Williams C. Wlckham, whose history 
is part of the history of Virginia. The fruit of this marriage were Will- 
iams Carter Wickham, Francis de Orea, Robert Henry, Benjamin William 
and Julia Wickham Renshaw. 

John Thomas Gibson, Charlestown. The family of Gibsons to which 
the subject of this sketch belongs are descended from John Gibson, who 



632 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

came with a large family to Winchester, Va. , from Lancaster county, Penn., 
in 1776. His wife was Sarah Hopkins, of the same county. Mr. Gibson 
was of that sturdy Scotch-Irish stock, many of whom have become eminent 
in our country, and was a relative of the distinguished chief justice, John 
Bannister Gibson, of Pennsylvania. He was a merchant and dealt largely 
in Irish linens. He died while on a tour in Georgia. James Gibson, his son, 
and father of Col. John Thomas Gibson, was born in Lancaster county, Penn., 
in 1773. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and being commissioned by 
President Madison as captain, commanded a company in the Twelfth Reg- 
iment of Virginia Infantry. He lived for many years in Hampshire county, 
Va., but returned to Frederick county in 1827, where he lived upon his 
farm till 1839, when he moved again to Hampshire county, and from there, 
in 1845, he came to Charlestown, JeflPerson county, where he died in 1847. 
His wife was Miss Susan Gregg, of Loudoun county, Va. 

Dr. Joshua Gregg Gibson was born January 3, 1823, in Hampshire 
county, Va. He was first married to Susan, daughter of Dr. William and 
Fanny (Hite) AVaters, in Frederick City, Md. , where she was born. She died 
near Leetown, Jefferson Co., W. Va., in September, 1864. The children of 
this marriage were Fanny Hite, wife of Robert N. Pendleton, living in 
Wythe county, Va. ; William Waters, in Texas; Agnes, in Shepherdstown, 
W. Va. ; James, who married Mary Hale, in 1888, in Texas; Nannie Pottin- 
ger, wife of Pradby James Kimmell, of Frederick county, Md. March 14, 
1867, he married Alice Baker Grove, of Sharpsburg, Md. , the daughter of , 
Jacob H. and Mary A. (Hite) Grove. The children of this marriage are 
Robert Gibson and Hopkins Gibson. Dr. Joshua Gregg Gibson graduated 
at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1843, and took the degree of M. D. at 
the University of Pennsylvania in 1846. Dr. Gibson practiced medicine in 
Frederick City, Md., but, owing to ill health, abandoned it, and in 1881 re- 
turned to West Virginia, and opened a drug store in Shepherdstown, W. Va. 

Col. John Thomas Gibson was born January 3, 1825, at Romney, Hamp- 
shire Co. , Va. He came with his father to Charlestown, Jefferson county, in 
1845. In 1847 he graduated from Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, then 
under the presidency of Robert J. Breckenridge, a distinguished divine of 
the Presbyterian Church. After his graduation he studied law under the 
tuition of Hon. William Lucas, and B. F. Washington, Esq., in Charles- 
town, and then completed his legal studies at the University of Virginia. 
From this time until the breaking out of the late war. Col. Gibson was act- 
ively engaged in his professional work. He served as member of the State 
Legislature in the four sessions of 1851-52, 1852-53, 1859-60, and again 
in 1860-61. Being a warm Southern man, he was strongly in favor of the 
principle of " state rights, " in the memorable session known as the "Se- 
ceding Legislature. ' ' 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 633 

He was also colonel of the Fifty- fifth Regiment of Virginia Militia, but 
after the breaking out of the war he enlisted as a private soldier in the 
Rockbridge Artillery, attached to the brigade of Gen. " Stonewall " Jackson. 
When Jackson was made a major-general and ordered to the Valley of Vir- 
ginia, he found the Fifty-fifth Regiment Virginia Militia near Winchester, 
and he detailed Cul. Gibson to commaud it. When it became dissolved by en- 
listment into the regular army, Col. Gibson was out of service for some time. 
He volunteered again as a private, and as first sergeant of Company I, First 
Regiment of Engineer Troops, served in the defense of Petersburg, and was 
paroled at the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, at Appomattox 
Court House in 1865. Since the war he has been a farmer, and now resides 
on his farm, "Burnlea," near Charlestown, Jefferson Co., W. Va. He has 
made the tour of Europe twice, and has written some interesting sketches 
of Ireland. His wife, Frances W. Gibson, is a daughter of the late Col. 
Braxton Davenport, of JeflPerson county, and her mother was a daughter of 
Maj. Henry Bedinger, of the Revolutionary army. To this union were born 
two sons and three daughters. Braxton Davenport Gibson, the only son 
living, is a lawyer in Charlestown. He is an alumnus of the University of 
Virginia, and at present is a member of the West Virginia Legislature. The 
daughters are Elizabeth Bedinger, Susan Gregg and Annie. 

The Baylor Family. John Baylor was born in 1650, in Tiverton, Eng- 
land, and in early life emigrated to Virginia, and settled in Gloucester 
county. He married, in 1698, Lucy Tod O'Brien, of New Kent county. 
By this marriage he had two sons: John and Gregory. John married Lucy 
Walker, at Yorktown, January 2, 1744. He was with Washington at Win- 
chester, and represented Caroline county in the house of burgesses from 
1740 to 1760. John, eldest son of John, was born at "New Market," the 
family place in Caroline county (now in possession of his grandson, John 
Roy Baylor), September 4, 1750. He was a graduate of Cambridge, and a 
classmate of Wilberforce. He married, while in England, his cousin, Fanny 
Norton, of Gould Sqiaare, London. He rose to the rank of colonel in the 
Revolutionary army, and was noted for his daring and intrepidity. George, 
the second son of John, was born at "New Market," January 12, 1752. 
He was aid to Gen. Washington at the battle of Trenton, and enjoyed the 
honor of presenting the colors there taken to the congress at Philadelphia. 
He received a bayonet wound at Little Tappan, from which he ultimately 
died, in Barbadoes, in 1784. George married, at Mansfield, Lucy Page, 
and left one son, John W. His widow married Nat. Burwell, of Frederick 
(now Clarke) county. Walker, third son of John, was captain in the Revolu- 
tionary army, was wounded at Germantown, and crippled for life. He mar- 
ried Miss Bledsoe, of Virginia, and was the father of Judge R. E. B. Baylor, 
the founder of the Baylor University, Texas. Frances Courtenay Baylor, ■ 



634 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of "Elm wood," near Winchester, author of "On Both Sides," "Behind 
the Blue Ridge," etc., is a great-grand-daughter of Walker Baylor. Gregory, 
the second son of John, in 1749, married Mary Whiting, of King William 
county, where he resided until his death, in 1773. Richard, the oldest son 
of Gregory, born in 1751, was also a revolutionary soldier, and rose from 
private to rank of captain in the army. After the war he emigrated to 
JefFerson (then Berkeley county), and was president of the county court of 
J-efferson from 1801 (the date of the formation of the county) to 1819, the 
date of his death. He married, first Miss Lowry, by whom he had no chil- 
dren, then in 1809, Ann Tilden Garnett, of Essex county, by whom he had 
four sons and one daughter. 

Richard Garnett, eldest son of Richard, was born in Jefferson county, 
April 18, 1811, and died September 15, 1843. He has now living two sons 
and a daughter; one of his sons, Thomas Gregory Baylor, is colonel of ord- 
nance U. S. A., now stationed at Rock Island. 

Robert William, the second son of Richard, was born May 25, 1813, 
at Woodbury, the old homestead in Jefferson county. In 1850 he became 
one of the justices of the county court, which position he held until the 
outbreak of the Civil war, when he raised a company, entered the Confeder- 
ate army, was severely wounded in 1862, taken prisoner, and not exchanged 
until late in 1864. Enlisted in his company were three of his sons, Richard, 
George and Robert, two of whom were killed in the war, and the survivor, 
George, rose to the rank of lieutenant in the same company, and later to 
captaincy in Mosby's Partisan Rangers. In 1874 Robert W. was elected 
president of the county court of Jefferson, which position he held until 
the time of his death May 2, 1883. George is now a member of the bar in 
Charlestown. 

Thomas Gregory, third son of Richard, born at Woodbury, in 1815, was 
a Confederate soldier and killed in front of Petersburg in 1864. 

Andrew H. Hunter, deceased, was born March 22, 1804, and was the 
'son of Col. David H. Hunter of Berkeley. He was a cousin also of Gen. 
David Hunter, U. S. A. He was a distinguished graduate of Hampden 
Sidney, a seat of learning whose reputation is in the first rank of American 
colleges. Admitted to the bar he went to Harper's Ferry, and in connection 
with an official relation to the then armory superintendent became a member 
of the Jefferson bar. He soon after, however, moved to the county-seat at 
Charlestown, where he was not long in building up an extensive practice. 
The marked peculiarity of Mr. Hunter's forensic career was that he made 
all branches of the profession literally his own. In chancery courts, in the 
trial of jury cases and in the prosecution or defense of criminals, he exhib- 
ited equal familiarity with governing principles, and brought to each the 
vigor and eloquence of a great lawyer. In 1840 Mr. Hunter was placed on 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 635 

the whig electoral ticket. Upon the stump he became unsurpassed, and his 
services weie in constant demand in 1840—44 and 1848 throughout Virginia, 
Maryland and more distant states. In 1846 he declined a nomination to 
congress. Memorable among his political combats were those with Hon. 
Charles James Faulkner and Henry Bedinger, but a crowning victory 
achieved by him was that over Gov. McNutt of Missis.sippi in 1848. In 1850 
he was a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention. He died No- 
vember 21, 1888. For additional memoirs of Mr. Hunter see chapter on 
the John Brown assassins. 

Thomas W. Timberlake, farmer, Milldale, was born March 7, 1840, on 
Sherwood farm, Warren Co., Va., his father being Richard H. Timber- 
lake, who was born near Berryville, December 18, 1801. The grandfather 
of Thomas W. was David Timberlake, who came from New Kent county, 
Va., and his father, the great-grandfather of Thomas W., emigrated to the 
Old Dominion from London, England, before the American Revolution, in 
1733. He, the great-grandfather, Richard, married Frances Harfield, also 
English, and they had a numerous family, as follows: Richard, Henry, 
Benjamin, John, Jameg, William, David, Hartield, Elizabeth, Sally and 
Nancy. William and David settled near White Post, Clarke county, and 
Harfield in Jefferson county, W. Va. David married Mary Davis, daughter of 
Rev. William Davis, a Baptist minister of Clarke county, whose father emi- 
grated from Wales prior to the Revolution, and was also the grandfather of 
the late Jefferson Davis (president of the Confederate states), and she had 
the following children: Nancy, William Davis, Sally, Richard Harfield, 
James, Stephen, David, Margaret, Eliza and Washington. Richard H. 
married, November 26, 1827, Amelia, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Day) 
Andrews, of Spofctsylvania county, who was born October 18, 1800, and 
died July 23, 1844. They had the following family: John S., Richard L. 
(killed while in the Confederate service, near Petersburg, Va., August 19, 
1864), Thomas W. (the subject of this sketch) and Elizabeth (who died in 
girlhood). John Andrews emigrated from England, and married Elizabeth 
Overton Day, May 16, 179!^; their children were Lewis, Samuel, John Day, 
Thomas, William and Amelia. The Overtons were emigrants from England, 
and the Days from Wales. 

Thomas W. Timberlake married Frances J. , daughter of James and Fanny 
(Timberlake) Griggs, on September 26, 1865. She (Mrs. Frances Timber- 
lake) was born July 15, 1841. Her mother was Fanny Harfield (daughter 
of William Timberlake and Esther (Sherman) Timberlake), who married, 
November 1, 1826. James Griggs' father was Thomas Griggs, born in Oc- 
tober, 1746, and his mother was Elizabeth Sherlock, who died in Jefferson 
county, aged ninety-five years, and his grandmother was Frances Lee, of 
Virginia. This Thomas Griggs came to the Valley from Lancaster county, 



636 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Va. , and had two brothers in the Revolutionary army. He married three 
times, the first wife being Sallie Kirk (one child); second wife, Mary Carter 
(four children, of whom were Thomas Griggs and three daughters): third 
wife, Massa McCormick (whose children were Dr. Lee Griggs and James 
Griggs, the father of Mrs. Thomas W. Timberlake). Mrs. Timberlake's 
grandmother was Esther Sherman, whose mother was Ann Chinn. whose 
father, Martin Sherman, married Esther Ball, a daughter of Joseph Ball, 
who had another daughter, Mary Ball, who married Augustine Washington, 
and was, of course, the mother of Gen. George Washington. 

James F. Kekfoot, farmer, P. O. Millwood. The Kerfoots are of 
Scotch -Irish origin. Three brothers came over from Ireland to America, 
and two of them settled in Frederick county, Va. , on the Opequon , the 
third one going to Missouri. One of these brothers was the father of John 
Kerfoot and William G. Kerfoot. John Kerfoot, when a young man, pur- 
chased a large tract of land lying between White Post and the Shenandoah 
river, on which, in 1809, he built a fine, large brick house. So successful 
was he in business that he named his home " Providence," and at the home- 
stead he raised a family of twelve children — six buys and six girls. All his 
sons settled around him, one being a practicing physician, and the others 
successful farmers and useful citizens. All wei'e members of the Baptist 
Church, and previous to the late war were old line Whigs. The sons were 
John B. , Daniel S., George L. , William C. , Franklin J. and James. The 
daughters were Catherine, wife of George Ball, of Fauquier county, Va. ; 
Margaret, wife of Solomon Spears, of Bourbon county, Ky. ; Sarah, wife of 
John Bonham, of Lafayette county, Mo.; Mary E., wife of Daniel W. 
Sowers, of Clarke county, Va. ; Lucy wife of Baalis Glasscock, of Platte 
county. Mo. ; Emily, wife of John Carr, of Fauquier county, Va. 

The subject of this sketch was born September 2, 1832, and is the eldest 
of a family ofi ten children born to William C. and Eliza Ann (Sowers) Ker- 
foot. William C. died in May, 1880, aged seventy five years, and his wife 
(Eliza) died in 1868, aged fifty-three years. Of the other sons John Will- 
iam died at fourteen years of age; Daniel was killed in the war in the 
Confederate army, aged twenty- three years; William Henry is living in 
Fauquier county, Va. James F. Kerfoot, our subject, was educated at 
Columbian College, Washington, D. C. , graduating from that institution in 
1852. He married Miss S. Olivia Duncan, daughter of E. G. Duncan, of 
Culpeper county, Va. , a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration 
of Independence, and has a family of four children: William D., Daniel H., 
J. Frank and Cora Lee, the latter being the wife of Homer Boughner, of 
Clarksburg, W. Va. Our subject, James F., entered the Confederate serv- 
ice at the beginning of the war, serving in Company C, Capt. William Nel- 
son, of the famous ' ' Stonewall Brigade, ' ' two years, and then got a trans- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 637 

fer to the Sixth Virginia Cavalry; was afterward detailed as a scout, with 
the rank of captain. Mr. Kerfoot and wife still occupy the old homestead, 
"Providence," on which is the old graveyard, where repose the remains of 
most of the Kerfoots and connections, including many grand and some 
great-grandchildren. 

His cousins, William T. and Judson G. , sons of George L. Kerfoot, live 
near the old home (Providence) of their grandfather, and worship at the 
same old church (Bethel), which he helped to constitute and which he 
attended all his life. Another cousin, Rev. Howard F. Kerfoot, son of Dr. 
Franklin J. Kerfoot, succeeded Dr. James Pettigrew Boyce, professor of 
the theological seminary, at Louisville, Ky. He was pastor for several years 
of the " Eutaw Place " Baptist Church in Baltimore, Md., and was called 
from there to the ' ' Strong Place ' ' Church in Brooklyn, N. Y. , and from 
there to the Louisville (Ky. ) Seminary. Dr. Kerfoot has two brothers, 
John D. Kerfoot, a prominent lawyer in Dallas, Tex., and Henry Dodge 
Kerfoot, a practicing physician at Berryville, Va. 

D. C. Westenhaver, attorney at law, Martinsburg, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Berkeley county, W. Va., during the closing years of 
the late war, and, excepting short periods when attending school, has ever 
since resided within its limits. By his father's side he is, as would be im- 
plied from the name itself, descended from German stock. Early in this 
century his grandfather came from the Dutch settlements of Pennsylvania, 
and located in Hedgesville, a small village of Berkeley county. His mother, 
whose maiden name was Harriet P. Turner, came of a Virginia family, which 
had long been resident and native of this community. His father being a 
farmer by occupation, Mr. Westenhaver' s boyhood and early youth were 
passed in the uneventful routine labor of farm life, with such variety as his 
attendance upon the country schools of the district and Martinsburg afforded. 
Having grown up and passed some time in teaching school and pursuing 
his studies, he commenced the study of law under the instruction of the 
Hon. W. H. H. Flick, who was then located at Martinsburg. A couple of 
years later he attended a term of the Georgetown Law School, from which 
he graduated in 1884, with the degree of Master of Laws. Being admitted 
to the bar of the District of Columbia, he commenced the practice of law at 
Martinsburg, W. Va. . where he is still located and in active practice. 
Shortly after entering the profession, he formed a partnership with his for- 
mer tutor, with whom he has been since associated. Upon the death of A. 
S. Hughes, in 1886, he was appointed by Senator C. J. Faulkner, then 
judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District of West Virginia, to fill an unex- 
pired term of prosecuting attorney of his native county, and in the fall of 
the same year the Democratic Convention of the county placed him on its 
ticket as a candidate for the same office. 



638 HISTOKY OF THE LOWEK SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

In the ensuing election this party was disastrously routed, and, though 
Mr. "VVestenhaver was beaten in common with the rest of the party nominees, 
his vote was the largest received by any individual on a lengthy ticket. 
Since then his attention has been closely confined to his chosen profession 
and the cultivation of his private studies. While possessing more of the 
tastes of a student than a politician, he has, nevertheless, freqviently been 
called upon to take an active part in behalf of the democratic party, in 
whose doctrines he has always been a firm believer. In every campaign, 
since arriving at manhood, he has lent all the assistance in his power, both 
in committee work and as a public speaker. 

At the beginning of 1889 Mr. Westenhaver, in connection with C. W. 
Boyer, purchased from W. B. Colston, the Martinshnrg Statesman, a weekly 
Democratic newspaper published at Martinsburg, of which he has since been 
joint editor and proprietor. Under their control the paper has, by careful 
and enterprising management, grown in business and influence until it is 
unsurpassed by any journal in the eastern end of West Virginia. Mr. 
Westenhaver was married, in 1887, to Miss Mary C Paull, of Martinsburg. 
The whole life of Mr. Westenhaver has been a continual and unaided 
struggle in the face of the most discouraging obstacles. Whatever he has 
accomplished is due solely to his own efforts. As a lawyer, he ranks high; 
as a scholar, he is a living proof of the truth of Emerson's remark, that 
poverty is the chief essential to make a scholar out of a student. Though 
possessing few early educational advantages, he manifested as a child the 
retentive memory, the love of learning, and the untiring pursuit of knowledge, 
which have ever since been his most noteworthy characteristics. In all of 
his classes he always stood at the head, and no prize was ever offered in any 
of them that he did not win. At the law school he won the scholarship 
prize of $50, and the essay prize of $25. 

The Colston Family. The founder of the Colston family, one of the 
oldest in Virginia, was William Colston, who came over from Bristol, 
England, about the year 1632. and settled in the tide-water country of Vir- 
ginia. One of his grandsons, Raleigh Traverse Colston, was clerk of Rap- 
pahannock county, which, at that time, comprised the whole of the 
Northern Neck of Virginia. He was twice married. His first wife was Miss 
Elizabeth Grifi&n, of Cherry Point, in Northumberland county, Va. , and his 
second Mrs. Susannah Kenner, nee Opie, of Kennerly, in the same county. 
By his last marriage he had three sons: Raleigh, William and Samuel. 
After the death of their father and mother these three sons, aged respect- 
ively six, four and two years, were taken and cared for by their half brother, 
Mr. Rodham Kenner, who had succeeded to the family estate of Kennerly, 
in Northumberland county, Va. Samuel Colston, the younger brother, 
died of wounds received at the battle of White Plains, in the war of the 
Revolution. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 639 

William Colston married twice; first a Miss Carter, of Sabin Hall, Va. , 
and second a Miss Armistead, and settled in Alexandria, Va. He left two 
sons, Armistead and William, who settled in Clarke county, Va. , and from 
the former is descended Mr. John Colston, of Jefferson count}^ W. Va. 
Raleigh Colston, the elder brother, sold his patrimonial estate in order to 
raise money to equip a regiment for the Continental army, and' expected to 
be made its colonel, but the government preferred to send him as its agent 
to the West India Islands to buy war supplies. There he remained a faith- 
ful agent of the provincial government during the war, and for several 
years thereafter he stayed on the island of Santa Cruz, engaging in mercan- 
tile pursuits, and laid the foundation of a large fortune. About the year 
1785 Raleigh Colston returned to this country and married Miss Elizabeth 
Marshall, a sister of Chief Justice Marshal], in Richmond, Va. Soon after 
his marriage he moved to the valley of Virginia, settling first at Hill and 
Dale, Clarke county, but shortly after moving to Winchester, Va. About 
the year 1800 Raleigh Colston purchased from the heirs of Lord Fairfax, 
what was known as Maidstone Manor, in Berkeley county, Va. , and settled 
on his newly acquired property, which he called Honeywood, from the 
number of honey locust trees found growing thereon. There he lived until 
death put an end to his earthly career in 1823, leaving a good name and a 
large landed estate as an inheritance to his widow and his seven children — 
four sons and three daughters. Mrs. Elizabeth Colston, the widow, died at 
Honeywood in 1843. Edward Colston, the eldest son, inherited the family 
estate of Honeywood, and settled there after his father' s death, living there 
until his death, April 23, 1851. He was twice married, first to his cousin. 
Miss Jane Letitia Marshall, who lived only one year and died, leaving no 
children; second. Miss Sarah Jane Brockenbrough, daughter of Judge 
William Brockenbrough, of the court of appeals of Virginia. He served 
with distinction in the war of 1812, represented his district one term in 
the congress, and his county in the legislature on several occasions, and 
was universally esteemed as an upright Christian gentleman. He left a 
widow and seven children — three sons and four daughters — having lost one 
lovely daughter, Jane, while at school in Shepherdstown, Va. , in 1846. Mrs. 
S. Jane Colston managed the Honeywood estate, with the assistance of her two 
eldest sons until the shock of war drove her from her beautiful home on the 
banks of the Potomac. Thomas Colston, the second son of Raleigh Colston, 
married Miss Elizabeth Fisher, of Richmond, Va. , and settled in Loudoun 
county, Va. He left one son and three daughters. Raleigh Colston, son 
of Thomas, married Miss Gertrude Powell, of Middleburg, Loudoun Co., 
Va. , and lived some years near Paris, Fauquier county, afterward remov- 
ing to Albemarle county, Va. , where he remained until after the late war, 
when he went to Richmond, and is now in the auditor's office of the state 



640 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of Virginia. Miss Nannie Fisher Colston married Mr. John B. Minor, pro- 
fessor of law at the University of Virginia. Miss Elizabeth Marshall Colston, 
daughter of Thomas, died at the age of sixteen, and Miss Susan Leigh Colston 
married Maj. Charles M. Blackford, of Lynchburg, Va. Raleigh T. Col- 
ston, the third son, went to Paris as a yonng man, to pursue the study of 
medicine, married there and remained abroad until the year 1850, when he 
returned to his native country, and lived on his patrimony in Fauquier and 
Clarke counties until the close of the late war. He died in New York City 
September 24, 1881, where his descendants are still living. John Colston 
died without having been married. Mary Colston married Mr. J. Hansen 
Thomas, a prominent lawyer of Frederick, Md. , and died in 1844, leaving 
one son, Dr. J. Hansen Thomas, who married Miss Annie Gordon, a daugh- 
ter of Mr. Basil Gordon, of Fredericksburg, Va. , and settled in Baltimore, 
Md. , where he died, leaving five sons and two daughters. One of his sons, 
Douglas H. Thomas, is a prominent business man in Baltimore, and presi- 
dent of the Merchants National Bank. Susan Colston married Mr. Ben- 
jamin Watkins Leigh, and left two children, William and Mary Susan. The 
latter married the late Conway Robinson, one of America's most profound 
lawyers. Raleigh, the eldest son of Edward Colston, died December 23, 
1863, of wounds received in battle during the late war, while gallantly 
leading the Second Virginia Infantry, of which regiment he was then 
colonel, having fought his way from the rank of captain. William, the 
second son, was a captain in the same regiment, having risen from the 
ranks, was twice severely wounded, but survived the war, and April 18, 
1866, married Miss Marian Summers, a daughter of Dr. Reuben Summers, 
of Martinsburg, W. Va. Four daughters, Susan, Jane, Lizzie and Sophie, 
are the results of this marriage. 

Capt. W. B. Colston has filled various positions in his county, and in 
1886 was appointed by President Cleveland as postmaster of Martinsburg, 
W. Va. , which ofiice he filled to the entire satisfaction of the community until 
the expiration of his commission on March 1, 1890, when he had to give 
place to Mr. W. H. H. Flick, an appointee of President Harrison. The 
younger son, Edward, was only sixteen years old when the late war com- 
menced, but in spite of his youth he enlisted in 1862, in the Second Virginia 
Cavalry, and served with marked gallantry until he lost his left arm at 
Appomattox, just three days before the surrender of Gen. Lee. He was 
left in the field hospital, captured by the Federal troops, and taken to 
Elmira prison, where he was held until some months after the cessation of 
hostilities. After the war he studied law under his uncle, Judge J. W. 
Brockenbrough, who was professor of that branch in Washington and Lee 
University, Lexington, Va., where he graduated with distinction, and in 
1870 went to Cincinnati, Ohio, to practice his profession, where he soon at- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 641 

tracted the attention of the leading lawyers of the Cincinnati bar, and is now 
engaged in an extensive and lucrative practice in that city, as a member of 
the firm of Harman, Colston, Goldsmith, Hoadley & Co. In 1875 he 
married his cousin, Miss Sally Stevenson, of Covington, Ky., a daughter of 
ex-Gov. John W. Stevenson. Elizabeth Marshall, the eldest daughter 
of Col. Edward Colston, was married in May, 1849, to Maj. R. A. Williams, 
who is now the commercial editor of the Baltimore American. They have 
two children living: Alfred and Rosalie. Mary White Colston married, 
October 4, 1854, Mr. William Leigh, who had been an officer of the United 
States navy, but resigned a short time prior to his marriage, and settled on 
the property inherited from his grandfather, Raleigh Colston, in Berkeley 
county. He died at Gale Hill in said county, in January, 1888, leaving a 
widow and six children, viz. : Benjamin Watkins, Edward Colston, Raleigh 
Thomas, William Robinson, Thomas Watkins and Elizabeth Keith Marshall. 
Annie Colston married Dr. T. A. Michie, of Charlottesville, Va., October, 
1884, and has no children. Lucy Colston, the youngest daughter of Col. 
Edward Colston, was married in June, 1866, to Col. Bennett Taylor, of 
Albemarle county, Va. , a great-grandson of Thomas JefFerson, and has six 
children: Patty JefFerson, Colston, Lewis Randolph, John, Edward Colston 
and Jane BrockenVjrough. The Colston family seems to have been imbued 
with considerable military spirit, as the last three generations had some 
members who were zealous in war: Raleigh Colston, in the Revolutionary 
war; Edward Colston, in the war of 1812, and Raleigh William and Edward 
in the late war. 

E. T. Hancock, deceased, was a son of George Hancock, and was born in 
Clarke county, Va. , in 1804, the family originally coming from eastern Vir- 
ginia. Our subject was reared in his native county, where be remained 
until twenty years of age, when his parents removed to Loudoun county, 
and there resided until E. T. was forty years of age. George W., father 
of our subject, was a prominent farmer, and a large slave holder. He was 
joined in marriage to Emma Potts, of Loudoun county, and they became 
the parents of thirteen children — ten sons and three daughters. E. T. was 
wedded to Keziah, daughter of John K. Gaunt, she being but three years 
of age when her parents came from England to America. The result of 
this union was one son, Charles B. , and a daughter, Mrs. Emma Shull. 
Mr. Hancock was a thorough-going public-spirited business man, and owned 
some 700 acres of land pvirchased in 1860. He was a grand-nephew of 
John Hancock, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence : was 
a member of the Baptist Church, and a democrat in politics. 

Henky Shephekd, Shepherdstown, W. Va. This gentleman comes from 
a line of Shepherds, who were pioneers in the settlement and development 
of this section. From the frequent mention of the Shepherds in the main 

39 



642 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

historical part of this work, much can be gleaaed of the early history of 
this enterprising and prominent family. 

One of them, Thomas Shepherd, located here about 1733 or 1734, at a 
time when the entii'e region, from the Potomac river on the north, to the 
Augusta county line on the south, and from the Blue Ridge mountains 
eastward, was Spottsylvania county. 

Capt. Abram Shepherd, a son of said Thomas, was a gallant soldier in 
the Continental army. He marched to Boston with the famous company 
of Hugh Stevenson, which started from Morgan Spring, near Sherherds- 
town, in 1775. He was in numerous battles, coming out unscathed. After 
Col. Rawlins and Maj. Otho Williams were wounded in the battle of King's 
Bridge, in November, 1776, he commanded the regiment of Maiyland and 
Virginia Riflemen during the remainder of the engagement. He re- 
ceived a highly complimentary letter from Gen. Washington not long before 
the death of that illustrious patriot and leader. After the close of the 
Revolution he settled down upon the family estate, and became one of 
the active spirits in the organization of the municipal government of 
Shepherdstown. 

Henry Shepherd, a son of said Abram and father of the subject of this 
sketch, spent his lifetime upon the family estate, devoting his attention 
almost exclusively to agricultural pursuits. While not inclined to public 
life, he was always recognized as one of the prominent citizens of the com- 
munity, and his home as a model of that of the ante bellum Virginia 
gentleman. 

Mr. Henry Shepherd, the subject of this sketch, was born at the old 
family homestead — his father's residence. He was educated at St. James 
College, Washington county, Md. At the age of about seventeen years he 
went to New Orleans where he began his business life in the employ of his 
eminently successful and distinguished uncle, R. D. Shepherd, with whom 
he remained a number of years, finally succeeding him. About the year 
1878, retiring largely from active engagements in New Orleans, he removed 
to "Wild Goose Farm," in Jefferson county, W\ Va. , where he still re- 
sides, and which now includes and combines the adjoining Shepherd home- 
stead of his father, with the original Wild Goose farm of his said uncle, 
the late R. D. Shepherd. 

This magnificent estate, of which he is now sole owner and proprietor, 
justly deserves more than a passing notice. It rather resembles a beautiful 
European villa than the plain and perhaps rugged country residence the 
name imparts. 

It is situated four miles north of Shepherdstown, and consists of about 
1,000 acres of rolling and naturally fertile limestone land, still further en- 
riched by advanced methods of cultivation. The mansion — building and 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 643 

furniture, in style and arrangement, a model of taste and completeness — 
is located on an eminence overlooking the Potomac river and adjacent 
country, so that the scenery therefrom in almost any direction is truly pict- 
uresque. The lawns, gardens, grove and lake, with shrubbery and flowers, 
afPord all that generous nature aided by culture and labor can add to beau- 
tify and adorn. The tasty cottages, homes of workmen, dotting the sur- 
rounding slopes of the farm, the mammoth barns and out-buildings, the 
herds, stock and implements, in fact the whole equipment and premises 
generally are in entire keeping with the mansion itself, and unmistakably 
display that thoroughness of system and order in every detail — a marked 
characteristic of the proprietor — which justifies being said of it, what a visit 
and inspection will verify, that it can rarely be equaled and nowhere be 
surpassed. 

A handsome shell avenue, shaded and gracefully arched by intertwining 
boughs, leads down the slope from the mansion to the public county road, 
which intersects the farm, and connects it with Shepherdstown. This road 
Mr. Shepherd some years ago, at considerable cost, graded and greatly im- 
proved, since which it has been known as the '* Shepherd Grade." 

But the crowning act of his munificence, and that which will long con- 
tinue as a monument thereto, is the magnificent macadam roadway, which 
he has during the past year had built on said grade, solely at his own ex- 
pense, and which for solidity of structure, method of finish and complete- 
ness in all its accompaniments, now affords the most attractive driveway 
from his farm to town, to be found in this state or section of the country. 

Mr. Henry Shepherd is a gentleman of culture and refinement, of large 
business experience, of strong will-power and of indomitable energy. He 
is literally the architect of his own fortune. Left comparatively poor at the 
close of the late war between the states, he has since by his push, sagacity 
and admirable management, thoroughly recuperated his fortunes and at- 
tained such a position, financially, as to assure him of independence and 
comfort for the remainder of life. 

A business incident, an outgrowth of his reduced condition during the 
war, is indicative of the man. Although his embarrassment then was 
wholly caused by that of others — due to the waste and ruin of property 
common to southern gentlemen during that period — yet afterward by his 
own efforts again accumulating means, and without realizing anything 
whatever from those who were still largely indebted to him, and although 
his own obligations were absolutely barred, yet he voluntarily, and at a 
cost of many thousand dollars, paid and settled to the entire satisfaction of 
all his creditors. 

Of late years Mr. Shepherd has devoted most of his time to the manage- 
ment and improvement of his fine estate, but has also given considerable at- 



644 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

tention and substantial aid to various local and public enterprises, and is 
recognized in the community in which he lives as a most generous and pub- 
lic-spirited citizen. He is kind to the poor and liberal in his benefactions. 
He is now in the fifty- eighth year of his age. 

Mr. Shepherd, a pronounced churchman, is a member of the Episcopal 
Church, with which his ancestry and family have always been identified, his 
great-grandfather, Thomas Shepherd, having erected the first Episcopal 
Church in Shepherdstown. 

Mr. Henry Shepherd married Miss Azemia McLean, daughter of Mr. 
William J. McLean, a prominent and successful merchant of New Orleans. 
Mrs. Shepherd is a highly cultured and accomplished lady, of social dis- 
position, attractive person and pleasing manner. 

Four children, all sons, have been born to them: Rezin D., Henry, 
William J. and Augustus M., of whom the two latter are still at college. 
The two former having completed their course, R. D. , the eldest, 
selected the stage as a profession, and Henry, Jr. , the second son, who has 
just reached his majority, is associated with his father in the management 
of the farm. 

. Edward C, Jolliffe, farmer, Clear Brook, a grandson of John Jolliffe, 
a large land owner and farmer, who was a captain in the Revolutionary 
war, and was taken sick in the service, came home and died before the 
close of the war, leaving two boys: John and William. The latter, the 
father of our subject, was born and lived on the farm known as Clear 
Brook (this name being taken from a small stream that ran through it), 
a part of which, with the house in which he was born and where he now 
resides, belonged to his father's estate of over 1,000 acres which was 
divided among his nine children, viz.: Meredith H., Lavina (married 
Samuel Hopkins, of Baltimore, who was a brother of Johns Hopkins), Will- 
iam, John, Selina, Amos, James, Edward C. and Harriet (who married 
James E. Tyson, of Baltimore). His father died August 2, 1836. His 
mother was Frances Helm, a daughter of Col. Meredith Helm, born at what 
is known as Belleville farm in Frederick county, Va. Our subject was 
born November 29, 1824, and educated at Alexandria High School and 
Benjamin Hollowell's school. He married Virginia Page in 1858, a daugh- 
ter of Dr. Thomas Swan Page, of Berkeley county, a son of Ann Lee 
Page, who was a sister of "Light Horse" Harry Lee, of Revolutionary fame, 
also an aunt of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Mr. Jolliffe' s wife was born in Oc- 
tober, 1839. The following children were born to them: Thomas Swan 
Page, Harriet Tyson, Thomas Swan Page (two of the same name), Lilly 
Tyson, Arundel Hopkins, Frances Helm. Three are dead: Thomas Swan 
Page, Harriet Tyson and Arundel Hopkins. The new extension of the Cum- 
berland Valley Railroad completed in 1889, adopted Clear Brook as the name 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 645 

of their station at this point, in honor of the old estate. Mr. Jollifife is a 
member of the Society of Friends, and a democrat in politics. 

Mrs. M. Catherine Wright, widow, farming, is a daughter of Col. 
Robert and Julia A. Baker. She was born in 1836 in Winchester and edu- 
cated there. In 1837 she came with her parents to her present residence. 
Her farm, adjoining that of Eiwin S. Baker, has been in her family since 
early in the present century. Part of the house on it is considerably over 
a hundred years old. Her father died in 1871 and her mother in 1885. In 
1858 she married Gen. Robert L; Wright, of Loudoun county, Va., who 
was of Scotch descent and born in 1813. Her children by this marriage 
are Robert B. , who married Mary, daughter of Casper Shunk, and grand- 
daughter of ex-Gov. Shunk, of Pennsylvania (Robert is a farmer in Loudoun 
county, Va.), J. Carter, married Helen Barnewall, of Alabama, living with 
Mrs. Wright; Arthur S. and Julia B. Gen. Wright was elected to the 
house of delegates of Virginia, and served one term. He was in com- 
mand of the Sixth Brigade Virginia State Militia until the breaking out of 
the Civil war, but did not serve in the war owing to ill health. He was 
a successful man and occupied mostly in agricultural pursuits. His death 
occurred in 1865. Mrs. Wright's father was also elected to and served in 
the Virginia state legislature in 1839. He was president of the Farmers 
Bank of Winchester, for a number of years previous to the Civil war. 

Thomas Walter Harrison was born in the town of Leesburg, Loudoun 
Co.. Va. , August 5, 1856. The family of Harrisons is one of the most 
widely known families in Virginia. Three brothers originally came from 
England; one settled on James river, and became the head of the well- 
known branch of Harrisons, known as the Braadon Harrisons, from which 
stock the present President of the United States is sprung, and is too well 
known to be the subject of this brief sketch. Another brother finally lo- 
cated in Kentucky, and has been the ancestor of many who have played 
prominent parts in the history of the country. The third brother was the 
ancestor of the family of Harrisons, who live in Loudoun county, in and 
near Leesburg. It is to this branch of the Virginia Harrisons, that the 
subject of this sketch belongs. The Loudoun Harrisons have been promi- 
nent for many years in the social, professional and political histoiy of Lou- 
doun county and of the state. Burr W. Harrison and John Janney were 
familiar names in the stirring times and scenes immediately preceding the 
war. John Janney being the president of the convention of secession. 
Matthew Harrison was the son of Burr W. Harrison, and the father of 
Thomas W . Harrison. He was the foremost attorney at the Leesburg bar, 
and died in 1875, while a member of the house of delegates of the Virginia 
legislature. Thomas Walter Harrison, after preparation at the Leesburg 
Academy under successive teachers, and at the Middleburg school under 



646 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Virginius Djlbney, Esq., and at the Hanover Academy under Hilary P. 
Jones, Esq., in his nineteenth year entered as a student the University of 
Virginia. He was a student at this institution for four years, and during a 
portion of this time edited the University Magazine. He graduated in the 
academic course with the degree of M. A. , and in the law course with the 
degree of B. L. In September, 1879, he commenced the practice of the law. 
In 18S3 he became associated with R. E. Byrd, Esq. , in the practice of the 
law, and also as owners and editors of the Winchester Times, but in a few 
years thereafter, Mr. Harrison parted with his interest in said paper. 
In the fall of 1887 Mr. Harrison was elected to the state senate as the 
representative of the counties of Frederick, Clarke, Warren, and the city of 
Winchester, which position he at this writing holds. 

The Russell Family. The progenitor of this family was an English- 
man who moved from England to Holland in 1688. His son, Richard 
Russell, in 173'2, in company with many others, left Holland in the vessel 
" City of London," and came to America, and with some others of his com- 
pany purchased eight square leagues of land from the Indians in 
the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. He had seven sons and one 
daughter, and of these sons, John settled in New York, Richard was 
killed by the Indians, Isaac remained on the home farm, Matthew settled in 
western Pennsylvania, Samuel in New Jersey, and James Russell and David 
Russell came to Winchester, Va. David married Hannah Greenway, 
daughter of William Greenway, of Greenway manor, Va., who came to this 
couutiy with Thomas, Ljrd Fairfax of Greenway court. Of this marriage 
were born: Je3S3 D. ,who remjved to Missouri in 1811; Hettie and Elizabeth, 
who each died in childhood; John, who moved to St. Louis, Mo., in 1814, 
and returned to Winchester and died there in 1832; Isaac, born in 1795, 
served in the voluateer service of the United States army in the war of 1812- 
14, and then became a merchant in Winchester, Va. , in which business he 
was engaged until his death, February 15, 1857. Isaac married Matilda 
Perry, daughter of Alexander Perry, of Alexandria, Va. , she died in 1822. 
He married, January 12, 1837, Eliza A. Baker, of Hardy county, W. 
Va. , whose ancestors were French Huguenots, who left France on 
account of the religious persecutions in that country in the sixteenth century. 
Of this marriage were born: Matilda M. Russell, who resides in Win- 
chester, Va ; James B. Russell, who at the age of sixteen became 
deputy sheriff of Frederick county (entered the Confederate army as a 
private in Company H, Thirteenth Virginia Infantry, and served on the staffs 
of Gens. Ramseur, Pegram and James A. Walker, and was paroled while 
aid-de-camp to the latter at Appomattox Court House, Va. , April 9, 1865; 
at the close of the war he engaged in merchandising in Winchester, became 
president of the Union Bank of Winchester, president of the Mutual Build- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGEAPHY. 647 

ing AssociatioQ and of the Citizens' Building Association, and director in 
the Cumberland Valley Railroad, and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and 
retired from mercantile life in 1889); Isaac W. Russell, who entered the 
Confederate army ai^the age of sixteen, was detailed in the medical depart- 
ment. Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, and was paroled at 
Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865 (at the close of the war he engaged 
in mercantile life, and became a partner of his brother, James B. Russell, 
in the firm of James B. Russell & Bro., and is now the head of the firm of 
J. B. Russell & Bro., in Winchester, Va.); Mary C. Russell, who married 
M. H. G. Willis, cashier of the Union Bank of Winchester, and resides in 
Winchester; Lucy W. Russell, who resides in Winchester. 

William G. Russell, son of David, was born in 1800, and married Sarah 
Catherine Wolfe, daughter of Dr. Thomas Wolfe, of Winchester. He was 
for many years treasurer of the city of Winchester, and engaged in mer- 
chandising with his brother, Isaac Russell, under the firm name of I. & W. 
G. Russell. He is now (1890) the oldest citizen of Winchester. Of this 
marriage were born: Mary E. (who married Capt. Bruce Gibson), David 
S. Russell (who graduated in the Medical College of Winchester in 
1860 and entered the Confederate army as assistant surgeon, now resides in 
Farmville, Va. ,), Sidney W. Russell (who married Upton L. Dorsey, of 
Maryland), William G. Russell (who is a traveling salesman), Edwin L. 
Russell (who for some years was cashier of the Union Bank of Winchester, 
married in and removed to Maryland, where he engaged in farming), and 
Harriet T. Russell (who resides in Winchester) . 

Henry S. Slagle, president of the Shenandoah National Bank, Winches- 
ter, Va. During the year 1808 Joseph Slagle emigrated to Virginia and settled 
in Winchester, where for thirty years he was a merchant. He was a valiant 
soldier in a company of riflemen, commanded by Capt. Roberts, in the war 
of 1812-14, and at its close he was married in York county, Penn. , to Marga- 
ret Spangler, whose father was surveyor- general and state treasurer of 
Pennsylvania. Born of that union were six children, of whom Henry S. 
Slagle is the only one now living. His early life was spent in this county, 
and his energies were directed to the business of merchandising. For fif- 
teen years Mr. Slagle was a member of the Shenandoah Valley Agricultural 
Association, and in 1888 was elected president of the Shenandoah Valley 
National Bank, successor to William H. Baker. He is a member of the Lu- 
theran Church. 

Douglas-Fuller Family. One of the early settlers of Jefferson county, 
Va., was William Douglas, a son of John Douglas, of Wilmington, Del. 
William Douglas owned large tracts of land in the county named, which 
have long since been subdivided, and passed out of the family. William 
Douglas was a descendant of Baron Douglas, of Douglas, hereditary sheriff 



648 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of Forfarshire, Scotland. His grandfather and uncle having first gone to 
France, from thence emigrated to Wilmington, Del., at that day a great 
point for foreigners. William Douglas married a lady of French- Huguenot 
descent, and raised a large family, having lived to a good old age, being 
ninety -five years old. His father was ninety-seven at the time of his 
death. A large family was the result of this marriage: Dr. John Doug- 
las, of Cincinnati; William Douglas, of St. Louis, and Judge Isaac Richard- 
son Douglas, of Mordington, near Charlestown, JefPerson Co., Va. (now 
W. Va.). Also, among his descendants are the Burnetts, of San Francisco 
and Ohio; the Merriweathers, of Louisville, Ky. ; Richard Rutherford 
Douglas, of Kentucky, who married into the Breckinridge family; and 
many other well-known families are numbered among his grandchildren 
and great-grandchildren. 

Judge Isaac Richardson Douglas, the distinguished son of William 
Douglas, built the Mordington house, and named it in honor of the home 
of his Scotch grandfather, near Wilmington, Del. Judge Douglas was a 
brilliant lawyer, an elegant and accomplished old Virginia gentleman, and 
a worthy descendant of that illustrious historic family, whose name he bore, 
and whose origin is so remote that it is lost in the mists of the past. Judge 
Douglas left a large family, of whom only a few are living: Dr. William 
Ancrum Douglas, a physician of great eminence in San Francisco; Walter 
Cazenove Douglas, of Boston; Mrs. Judge White, of St. Louis; Mrs. Will- 
iam McPherson Fuller, of Winchester, and Archibald Murray Douglas, of 
West Virginia. 

Col. William R. Denny, one of the active, enterprising men of Win- 
chester, was born in Newtown, Va. , February 4, 1823. He was a merchant 
and merchant tailor in the earlier years of his business career, which was 
terminated in 1862. In 1867 he became one of the company of Mark 
Twain's "Innocents Abroad." After an extended tour East, with that 
noted writer, Col. Denny, in 1870, in company with Gov. Holliday, Henry 
Kinzel, Charles L. Crum and Dr. Love, established the Winchester paper 
mills. He also secured the charter for the Union Bank, Winchester, and 
was active in the establishment and one of the first directors of the Winchester 
Gas Company. Col. Denny has always been public- spirited, and, in addition 
to many buildings erected and other improvements made by him in Win- 
chester, he carried to completion the erection of the Confederate Cemetery. 
The unknown 829 bodies that lie there, were gathered together under his 
direction and deposited in that beautiful spot. Col.' Denny was also the 
leading spirit that carried into execution the erection of the large and costly 
monument that stands on these grounds. Col. Denny was married October 
9, 1851, to Miss Margaret A. Collins, sister of the Rev. John A. Collins, 
the noted pulpit orator of the Methodist Church. His son, the Rev. Collins 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 649 

Deuny, now chaplain oi the University of Virginia, at Charlottesville, by ap- 
pointment of the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, trav- 
eled with Bishop Wilson in his tour around the world. One daughter, 
Mary Brown, married Harvey J. Campbell, of St. Joseph, Mo. ; the other, 
Maggie Virginia, is the wife of the Rev. D. M. James, of New Haven, 
Conn. The youngest son, John H. Denny, is a merchant in San Mercos, 
Texas. Col. Denny was superintendent of the Sabbath- school in his church 
for thirty years in Winchester. He was for many years director of the 
Winchester & Potomac Railroad, and subsequently elected president of the 
same road. 

Nathaniel Burwell, P. O. Millwood. The first of the Burwell family, 
says Bishop Meade, that settled in Virginia, was Maj. Lewis Burwell of 
Carter's Creek, Gloucester Co., Va. He married a Miss Higgins, and 
had two sons: Nathaniel and Lewis. Nathaniel married a daughter of 
Robert Carter, known as " King " Carter, by whom he had three sons and 
one daughter. The daughter, Elizabeth, married a Nelson. President of 
the King's Council. His sons were Lewis and Carter Burwell. The latter 
married Lucy, daughter of John Grimes; their son was the father of 
Nathaniel Burwell, who settled in Frederick county, and built Carter 
Hall, near Millwood. 

Nathaniel, son of William Nelson and Mary Brooke Burwell, was born 
in 1819 at "Glenowen," near Carter Hall, This grand old mansion was 
built by his grandfather, Nathaniel Burwell, and would have been inherited 
by his father but for his death. It passed to G. H. Burwell, next in age. 
His grandfather, Nathaniel Burwell, was born at Carter's Grove near 
Williamsburg, Va. , along the James River, but subsequently moved to 
Frederick county, now Clarke, and built the above mentioned hall, where 
he resided until his decease. William N., father of Nathaniel, was also 
born at this place. He married Mary Brooke, a niece of Col. and Chief 
Justice Marshall, of Kentucky, and their children were Nathaniel, Lucy 
(wife of John Jolliffe), Eliza (wife of David H. McGuire), Anne (wife of 
Philip Pendleton Cook). Nathaniel B. was married December 8, 1842, to 
Miss Page, daughter of Dr. Page, and they have been blessed with twelve 
children: Robert, who at the age of nineteen years was a lieutenant of 
artillery under Gen. Stuart, C. S. A., and wounded at Brandy Station, 
died at Staunton, one month afterward. George H., who also enlisted in 
Stuart's Cavalry Division, at the age of fourteen years, was promoted to a 
lieutenancy at the age of sixteen, and after the war went to Mexico and 
joined Maximillian's force, as captain of artillery, being killed while acting 
as colonel, at the age of nineteen years; Philip joined the Confederate army 
at the age of sixteen years. He is a graduate of the Baltimore Medical 
College, and is practicing his profession at Millwood; John is a prominent 



650 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

physician in Washington, D. C, having graduated at Jefferson Medical 
College, Philadelphia; William, also a graduate of Jefferson, is practicing 
in Parkersburg, W. Va. ; Thomas H. , now owner of the old homestead, 
Carter Hall, is engaged in farming; Susan, twice married, first to Maj. 
Henry, a graduate of West Point, and second to Archibald Cary Randolph, 
M. D., both deceased; Mary W. and Evelyn C. The first of the Carter 
family named in this sketch settled in Upper Norfolk, and was a member of 
the grand assembly of the colony of Virginia in 1649 and 1654, from 
Lancaster coimty. Robert Carter, or "King" Carter, as he was called, 
was a son of John Carter by his third wife, Sarah Ludlow. " King ' ' Carter' s 
daughter, Elizabeth, was twice married, first to Nathaniel Burwell. of 
Gloucester, and next to Dr. George Nicholas, of Williamsburg. His 
daughter, Judith, married the first Mann Page, of Gloucester, and his 
daughter Anne, married Benjamin Harrison of Berkeley, Va. 

Although Robert Carter had large possessions when he died, and was 
called "King" Carter, he is said to have been a very kind-hearted and 
benevolent man. His will, a copy of which is in the possession of one of 
his descendants in Clarke, shows that he owned 300,000 acres of land 
and 1,100 slaves. He built a fine Episcopal Church for the convenience 
of his family and servants, one-fourth of which was reserved for the 
latter. It is impossible in this sketch to trace the different branches of the 
Burwell and Carter families, but frequent mention of those most prominent 
in the history of Virginia will be found in the main historic portion of this 
work. 

Matthew W. Jones, P. O. Berryville. Matthew Harrison Jones moved 
from near Shepherdstown (now West Virginia) to Clarke county, Va. , 
in the year 1837, and settled on a farm which he bought near Wades- 
ville, in said county. He there lived until his death, which occurred 
in 1859. He was a life-long democrat. He was honored and respected 
by all who knew him, for his sterling worth and integrity. He raised 
a family of four daughters and five sons: John, Thomas, Leonard, Harrison 
and Matthew Williamson. John went to California in 1849, and Avas 
soon lost to the rest of the family. Leonard proved to be a good busi- 
ness man, and was for many years surveyor of his county (Clarke, Va.). 
He died comparatively young, in 1871, and left a snug little farm near 
Berryville to his only now living child, Stuart Lee Jones. Harrison was of 
a wild disposition, and after involving his brothers, Leonard and Thomas, 
in financial trouble, went to Missouri. 

Matthew Williamson, the youngest son, served over three years in the 
Confederate army, during which time he was severely wounded in the arm, 
but did not lose the use of it. Soon after the war he married, and now 
lives with his wife and five children on his little farm near Old Chapel, 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 651 

Clarke Co., Va. Thomas, the second son, married a Miss Mary Jane 
Huyett. and after living around on several rented farms, in Clarke county, 
he bought a farm near Ripon, Jefferson county, then Virginia. He went 
there with three children, Osborne A., Harriet R. and Charles Thomas, and 
while there he had two sons added to his family, Matthew Williamson and 
Doras Huyett. He soon sold the above mentioned farm, and moved back 
to Clarke county, and located on a farm which he bought, and which was 
situated about three miles north of Berry ville. After coming back to Clarke 
county, another child, Ella Agnes, was born. Thomas Jones was a man 
liked by all who knew him. He was a stanch democrat, and, while he 
would never own a slave, though often begged by several colored people to 
buy them when sold, he was a secessionist of the strongest type. He fur- 
nished two sons to the Confederate army, and often said he wished he had 
100 to furnish. Of a very limited education himself, he had judgment 
enough to see the advantage of a good education. His earnest prayers 
were that his children should become Christians, and his constant endeavor 
was to give them as good an education as possible. He was born in 1817, 
and died in 1879, aged sixty-two years, an elder in the Presbyterian Church 
in Berryville. In mentioning his death the Clarke Courier said of him : 
"An honest man, the noblest work of God." 

His oldest son, Osborne Allen Jones, when eighteen years old, joined the 
Confederate army in 1861 just before it evacuated Harper's Ferry. He 
served in the Stonewall brigade from the first Bull Run until the surrender 
at Appomattox. His comrades in arras say there was not a better soldier in 
the army. Maj. S. J. C. Moore, who was his captain for about two years, 
says: " Though delicate in health Osborne Jones was always to the front 
when danger was ahead." He was the only one of the seventy-five or 
eighty men in the company (Company I, Second Virginia Volunteers), who 
left Harper's Ferry in 1861, who was at the surrender at Appomattox April 
9, 1865. Delicate at all times, he was more so after the war, and in 1879 
he was called to his long home in the thirty-ninth year of his age, leaving 
a widow and two children. Harriet R., married a Confederate soldier, 
George M. Britton, and they now live in Berryville, Va. , with their only 
child, a grown son, French M. Britton. Charles Thomas, the second son, 
while a boy not yet eighteen years old, rode a horse bare-back from home, 
near Berryville, Va. , to Harrisonburg, to join the Confederate army. He 
there found Capt. John R. Nunn who sent him with a note to Gen. Imbo- 
den. The General furnished him with a saddle. In about ten days he 
received a wound in battle, "The Wilderness," which disabled him and 
compelled him to walk on crutches for two or three years. He is now a 
prosperous farmer, living with his wife and four children on a part of the 
old homestead. He is supervisor of his district, Long Marsh. Matthew 



652 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

W.. the third son and thehnmble writer of this sketch, in 1867 with the aid of 
his father borrowed money enough to keep him at Hampden Sidney Col- 
lege for three years, from which college he graduated in 1870, being then 
twenty-one years old. After leaving college he taught school for twelve 
years, ten of them as principal of the Berryville high school. His health 
failing, he quit school-teaching, and rode as collector of taxes, from 1883 to 
1887, for Ammi Moore, the county treasurer. In the spring of 1887 
he was elected county treasurer, which office he now holds. Doras 
H. , the fourth son, lives with his wife (he has no children) on a snug 
little farm in Long Marsh district, Clarke Co., Va. , and enjoys the re- 
spect and confidence of all who know him. Ella A. , the second daughter 
and youngest child, lives in Berryville, Va,, with her husband, Isaac Bow- 
man, a tin and stove merchant. It will be seen from the following record, 
copied from an old Bible which belonged to the father of Matthew Harrison 
Jones, the first party mentioned in the above sketch, that the original name 
of this family was Harrison. The record was written by the owner of the 
Bible, who came to America from England when about seventeen years old, 
and reads as follows: 

BIRTHS. 

"Thomas Harrison, my grandfather, in Yorkshire, England, Anno 
Domini, 1677. 

" Thomas Harrison, my father, in Yorkshire, England, Anno Domini, 
1728. 

"Thomas Harrison, myself, in London in the Parish of St. Martin's in 
the Fields, July the third. Anno Domini 1752." 

And then follows his own record of his own marriage in these words, to 
wit: "Thomas Jones alias Harrison, of the Parish of St. Martin's in the 
Fields, London, to Mary Newell of Washington county, Md. , married by 
George Mitchel of Sharpsburg, of said county and state, January the fourth, 
1781." 

While he always wrote his own name as " Thos. Jones alias Harrison," 
he wrote the names of all of his ten children with Harrison as the middle 
name, and hence the name of his descendants has been nothing more than 
common Jones. In the absence of any reason known to me why he should 
thus change his name and that of his descendants from historic Harrison to 
common Jones, I have fancied that he was a descendant of the Col. Thomas 
Harrison of Yorkshire, who, by order of Cromwell, in 1649, executed Charles 
I., and that he, my great grandfather, in coming to this section of America, 
Virginia, where the execution of Charles was very heartily condemned, 
changed his name to avoid the stigma. One can see at a glance that the 
Col. Thomas Harrison, of Yorkshire, who executed Charles in 1649, could 
have been the father or grandfather of the Thomas Harrison mentioned 
in this sketch as being born in Yorkshire, England, Anno Domini, 1677. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGKAPHY. G53 

Rev. Julian Broaddus, Berry ville. The Broaddus family in America, 
though numerous in the south and west, have all descended from Edward 
Broaddus, who emigrated from an Anglo-Saxon colony in Wales, and settled 
on Gwyn's Island at the mouth of the Piankitank river, Virginia, early in 
the eighteenth century. Most of them have been farmers, though some 
have been physicians and lawyers. The family is distinguished for the num- 
ber of Baptist ministers — some of them eminent — it has furnished. The 
first of the family to move to the Shenandoah Valley was Maj. William Broad- 
dus, an officer in the Revolutionary war. For a long time he was in charge 
of the United States armory and arsenal at Harper's Ferry. He was highly 
esteemed in all the community, and left behind him a reputation for unsul- 
lied integrity and honor. His only surviving child, Miss Lavinia, lives in. 
Charlestown. Gen. Jeff Thomson of Confederate fame was his grandson. 

Rev. William F. Broaddus, D. D., was bom in Rappahannock county, 
Va. , in 1801, and died in Fredericksburg, Va. , in 1876. He became a Bap- 
tist preacher while quite young, and for a number of years was pastor of 
Bethel Church in Clarke county. He was a preacher of great popular 
power, skillful in argument, clear in statement, overwhelming in passionate 
exhortation and overflowing in kindly humor, which in private brightened 
every circle. One of his grand-daughters, Mrs. John Chamberlain, lives 
near Berry ville. The Rev. Andrew Broaddus, brother of Dr. William F., 
preached for a short time in Luray, removed to the west, but returned to 
Luray, where, after years of successful and highly appreciated service he 
fell asleep in death. His son, the Hon. Andrew Broaddus of Luray, has 
represented his county in the legislature, and is now and has been for 
years clerk of the county and circuit courts of Page county. In 1884 the 
Rev. Julian Broaddus, of Caroline county, Va., became pastor of the Ber- 
ry ville Baptist Church, where he still lives. Since his pastorate the congre- 
gation have built a large and handsome chiirch edifice, and is in a united 
and harmonious state. He is president of the Shenandoah Baptist Asso- 
ciation, and as oldest pastor in that body is greatly beloved and honored. 
In 1862 he married Miss Hallie L. Terrell of Caroline county, Va., who 
for twenty- eight years was the endeared companion, the wise counselor, 
and the strong supporter of her husband. She died April 10, 1890, ripe 
for the garner of God. He has six sons, viz. : Alfred, living in Essex 
county, Va. ; Julian G. , succeeding well in business in Philadelphia; An- 
drew, Carlyle, Luther and Howard, at home. Two daughters, Florence and 
Hallie J. , make his home happy by their loving ministrations. 

The Rev. P. P. Phillips, 3erryville, was born in Washington, D. C. 
He graduated from the Columbian University of that city, in 1875, and 
from the theological seminary near Alexandria, Va. , in 1878; was ordained 
deacon on June 20, 1878, by Rt. Rev. Wm. Pinkney, D. D. in the Church 



sj 



654 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of All Faith Parish, in St. Mary's county, Md. ; ordained priest in St. 
Michael's Church, Trenton, N. J., by Rt. Rev. John Scarborough, D. D., 
in June, 1879, and entered upon the rectorship of Grace Church, Berryville, 
Va. , in September, 1879. 

The Moore Family. Harry Moore, the ancestor of one branch of the 
Moore family came ^q America from England in the colonial days, and set- 
tled in Prince George county, Md. , on the opposite baak of the Potomac, and a 
few miles from Alexandria. His son, Cleon Moore, moved to Alexandria 
some years before the year 1776. There is good reason to believe that 
he had other children but no information can be obtained in regard to them. 
CleoD Moore left two sons, Thomas and Alexander Moore, the hrst-named 
of whom was a captain in the continental army and was at the surrender of 
Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. The other son, Alexander, or Sandy, as 
he was familiarly called, held the office of register of wills in Alexandria 
for a number of years. He was a gentleman of fine social qualities, and a 
good musician; and was a frequent and welcome guest at Mount Vernon, the 
home of Gen. Washington. The above named Thomas Moore left four sons 
and two daughters: 

Thomas Alexander Moore, who was born in 1803, was a lawyer, and re- 
moved to Charlestown, Jefferson county, soon after he was admitted to 
the bar in 1824. In 1830 he became deputy clerk of the Jefferson county 
court, and in 1840, upon the death of the clerk, he was appointed to succeed 
him, and continued in the office by successive elections until his death in 
1889. He left four sons and the descendants of a deceased daughter sur- 
viving him. His sons are Samuel J. C. Moore, an attorney in Berryville, 
Va. ; Cleon Moore, an attorney at Charlestown, Jefferson Co. , W. Va. ; 
Berkeley W. Moore, an attorney at Coal Valley, Fayette Co., W. Va., and 
the Rev. J. Henry Moore, of Berryville, Va. , a minister of the Presbyterian 
Church. His deceased daughter left two children, Ellen Campbell and 
William P. Campbell, the former living and the latter dead, leaving an in- 
fant child. 

Albert B. Moore, second son of Thomas Moore, was for a number of 
years clerk of the county court of Smyth county, Va. , and afterward clerk 
of the court of Guadalupe county, Tex. He died a number of years ago, 
leaving no son but a large family of daughters. 

Edwin Ward Moore was first lieutenant in the United States navy, 
which office he resigned to accept the command-in-chief of the navy of 
Texas in the year 1838 or 1839. He distinguished himself in several en- 
gagements with the Mexican fleet, in which the latter was beaten and almost 
entirely destroyed. When Texas was admitted into the Union he retired 
from service and died childless in 1865. 

James W. Moore removed to Texas in 1839; was mayor of Galves- 



vj 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGKAPHY. 655 

ton in 1861, and upon the permanent occupation of that city by the Union 
forces, entered the Confederate army as a brigadier-general, and rendered 
service west of the Mississippi during the war. He died soon after from 
disease, the result of exposure in the field, leaving several children, who 
are in Texas. 

Ann Moore died many years ago youQg and unmarried. 

Ellen Moore married Dr. Addison H. Saunders, of Prince William 
county, Va. , and died in 1857 or 1858, leaving two sons who have since 
died and four daughters who are still living. Alexander or ' ' Sandy ' ' 
Moore, son of Cleon Moore, died many years ago. His children who sur- 
vived him were: Jane Moore, who married Mr. Coyle of Washington City, 
and died leaving three sons and a daughter who are still living, and a son, 
Cottenger Moore, who died some years ago unmarried. 

A. MooHE, Jr., attorney at law, Berryville, was born in Clarke county, 
Va., May 30, 1846; was pupil of the Rev. William Johnston at the Berry- 
ville Academy until at the age of fifteen years he enlisted in the army of 
Northern Virginia. After the close of the war he taught school several 
years, then took the law course at the University of Virginia, and in 1870 
was licensed to practice in the county and circuit courts of Clarke county. 
In 1880 he became president of the bank of Clarke county; in 1889 was 
chosen to represent the counties of Clarke and Warren in the house of dele- 
gates. 

Mr. Moore married in 1873 Miss Cornelia Daniel Ellet, daughter of 
Charles Ellet, Jr., of the city of Philadelphia, a distinguished civil engi- 
neer. In 1878, his first wife having died, he married Miss Annie B. Cabell, 
daughter of William D. Cabell, of Norwood, Va. 

His paternal ancestors came to Virginia from South Carolina some years 
before the Revolutionary war, and settled in Westmoreland county. His 
mother was the daughter of Dr. William Brewer of Montgomery county, Md. 

Daniel C. Snyder, farmer, P. O. Berryville, Va., was born May 2, 1830, 
near Charlestown, Jefferson Co., W. Va., the second son of David H. and 
Sarah Ann (Boley) Snyder. Daniel C. and three brothers were the only 
issue of his parents' marriage. His grandfather was Daniel Snyder, and 
grandmother Mary (Hight) Snyder, both of Jefferson county, W. Va. His ma- 
ternal grandfather was John Boley. He married Rachel A. Louthan, daugh- 
ter of John and Lydia Louthan, of Clarke county, June 5, 1856. The issue 
of this marriage was nine children — four daiighters and five sons. 

Daniel C. Snyder was the founder of the Berryville Gazette, the first 
newspaper published in Clarke county. He enlisted as a private .in Com- 
pany C, Eleventh Regiment Virginia Confederate Cavalry, Rosser' s brigade, 
and was paroled at Appomattox Court House at the time of Gen. Lee's sur- 
render. 



656 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

David H. Snyder, the only living brother of Daniel C, lives, also, in 
Clarke county, and owns the desirable estate of the late Gen. T. T. Faiin- 
tleroy, U. S. A. In 1855 he was appointed acting midshipman in the 
United States navy by Hon. William Cumback, from the Fourth Con- 
gressional District of Indiana. Later, and for twenty- five years, he was an 
official of the Adams Express Company, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He married, 
in 1885, Miss Maria G. McClure, of Harford county, Md. 

LaRue Family. The earliest record of the LaRue family now in the 
memory of the present generation of them is that two brothers came from 
France during the time of the attempted eradication of the Huguenots (they 
being of Protestant inclinations). The two settled in New Jersey, where 
three children, Abraham, Jacob and Isaac, were born. The former two 
moved to Kentucky, where the present county (La Rue) was formed. Isaac 
was born in Hunterdon county, N. J., in 1712, and lived in that state un- 
til the year 1743, when he moved to Orange county, Va., having ten chil- 
dren, as follows (two of whom, Jacob and Jabez, settled in Clarke county): 
Samuel, Elizabeth, Jacob, John, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, James, Jabez and 
Mary. Jabez married Frances Collins, who died without issue in 1823. 
James LaRue was born in Frederick county, Va., October 4, 1762, and mar- 
ried Clary Billups, of Richmond, born June 30, 1766. James LaRue died Oc- 
tober 6, 1809. Clary, his wife, died in her eightieth year, October 29, 
1845, leaving the following children: Samuel, John Billups, Phebe and 
Clarissa. 

Samuel LaRue was born in 1787, married Margaret Castlemau in 
1811, by whom he had seven children: James William, Alfred Lawrence 
Pike, Massie, John David, Frances, Robert Andrew Jackson and Phebe. 
His second wife was Juliet Carter Collins, daughter of Elder Christopher 
Collins, born June 17, 1783. By the second marriage he had one son, 
Christopher. Samuel LaRue died May 10, 1850; his widow December 5, 
1874, after reaching the advanced age of ninety- one years. Clarissa LaRue 
married Jacob Vanmeter, by whom she had one child, James LaRue Evans 
Vanmeter, and died in March, 1857. Phebe LaRue married James Grant- 
ham, by whom she had six children: John, Ann Louisa, Caroline, Samuel 
LaRue, Cornelia and Katherine. 

John Billups LaRue was born September 12, 1792, married June 15, 
1828, Frances H. Majors, by whom he had three children: William Augus- 
tus Majors, John James and Eliza Columbia. Frances Majors died August 
21, 1836. His second wife was Katherine E. Buck, of Front Royal, whom 
he married January 31, 1843. He died May 9, 1875. His widow died in 
June, 1882. 

James William LaRue, eldest child of Samuel LaRue, was born March 
11, 1812, married, in 1841, Matilda Bell, youngest daughter of Col. James 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 657 

Bell, by whom he had one daughter, Mary, who in June, 1864, married John 
T. Arnette, of Baltimore, and had two children: Archie R., born March 2, 1866, 
and Powell, born January 15, 1871. James W. LaRue is now the only 
male descendant of the LaRue family bearing that name, living in Clarke 
county. Alfi'ed L. P. LaRue was born July 17, 1813, and February 20, 
1861, married S. V. Dixon, of Calvert county, Md. He died September 23, 
1877. Massie died in her ninth year in 1823. John David married Maria, 
daughter of Joel Osborne, died in December, 1863, leaving three children : 
Annie, Samuel and Oscar. Frances, born in 1821, married Richard Tim- 
berlake, and with three children, Mary, Margaret and Fannie, is now living in 
Charlestown, W. Va. R. A. Jackson married Harriet M. Bebee, and died 
in September, 1863, leaving two children, Gilbert and Fannie. Phebe mar- 
ried John W. Grantham, is still living and has four children: Rose, Joseph, 
Lillie and Edith May. Christopher, born in 1828, married John David 
La Rue's widow in June, 1868. Both are still living but without children. 

John B. LaRue' 8 children. — William Augustus Majors, born February 
2, 1831, married Cornelia Grantham, April, 1863, and they have four chil- 
dren: Eliza Frances, Ditt, Bunt and Warren. John James, born August 
26, 1835, married Katherine Grantham December 20, 1863; they have four 
children: Francis Corbin, Irene, James Edgar and Mamie. Eliza Colum- 
bia was born November 17, 1833, died January 1, 1862. 

Phebe Grantham's children. — John James Grantham married Mary 
Bowen in 1863. Ann Louisa married J. W. Luke. Caroline married 
George Shirley. Katherine, born October 8, 1838, married John James 
LaRue. Samuel LaRue died in February, 1861. Cornelia married Will- 
iam Augustus LaRue. 

James LaRue Evans Vanmeter, son of Clarissa Vanmeter, married 
Bettie Keyser in 1854. 

Col. R. p. Chew, Charlestown, was one of the distinguished soldiers of 
the late war. He was born April 9, 1843, in Loudoun county, Va. , and 
came with his father to Jefferson County in 1848. In 1859 he became a 
cadet at the Military Institute, Lexington, Va. , completing his course in 
1861, and was immediately appointed as drill master, having the rank of 
lieutenant. In the following September, he, in company with Milton Rouse, 
raised a company for active service, of which he was made captain. This 
company was attached to Ashby's brigade, and remained there until the 
death of that gallant leader, June 6, 1862. In 1863 Stuart's Horse Artil- 
lery Battalion was organized, then commanded by Maj. H. C. Beckhan, the 
batteries consisting of Chew's, Breathed' s, McGregor's, Hart's and Mor- 
man's. In 1864 Maj. Beckhan was transferred to the west, andCapt. Chew 
was promoted to the command of the horse artillery, with the rank of major, 
commanding undei- Stuart as chief. In the fall of 1864 a reorganization 

40 



658 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

ensued, making five battalions, of two batteries each, each battery having 
four guns, making in all forty pieces of artillery. He was then assigned 
to Gen. Hampton, chief of cavalry, and served from that time until the 
close of the war as chief of horse artillery, with the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel. Col. Chew had one of the best disciplined regiments in the service. 
It consisted of 1, 200 men in round numbers, who were conspicuous for their 
efl&ciency and courage. After the war Col. Chew retired to the farm, but 
his prominence as a man soon brought him before the people, and in 1883 
he was elected to the state legislature, was re-elected in 1885, and again in 
1887. On the 5th of August, 1871, he w^as married to Miss Louisa F. 
Washington, a descendant of one of the brothers of George Washington. 
She was the daughter of John A. Washington, of Mt. Vernon, Va. 

Griggs-Timbeklake. Thomas Griggs, son of Lee and Elizabeth (Sker- 

lock) Griggs, and grandson of • Griggs and Frances Lee, his wife. 

was born in Lancaster county, Va. , October 11, 1746. He emigrated to the 
Lower Shenandoah Valley about 1770, and located within eight miles west 
of Charlestown, Frederick county, now Jefferson, engaging in agriculture, 
and by his activity, force of talent, and the influence of upright principle, 
won for himself confidence, respect, wealth and honor. He married three 
times: first to Judith Kirk, had one daughter who died unmarried; the sec- 
ond time, October 8, 1772. to Alcy Carter, born June 26, 1753, a daughter 
of Thomas and Ann Carter, and who bore him four children ; Ann, married 
Samuel Harris, and died in Hagerstown, June 16, 1844, in her seventieth year; 
Elizabeth, married Fielding Calmes, moved to Kentucky, died at her resi- 
dence in Clarke county, in January, 1847, aged seventy years; Mary, mar- 
ried Harfield Timberlake, who, with two brothers, came to the Valley fiom 
the county of New Kent, in 1795 (he died in 1828 at his residence, " Shen- 
stone," where his widow also died, September, 1845, in her sixty-seventh 
year); Thomas, born in 1780, married Charlotte Hubbard, of Williamsburg, 
Va., and had three children (he died in September, 1860, a lawyer pre-emi- 
nent for his commanding intellect and purity of character, commonwealth's 
attorney, soldier of the war of 1812, member of the Virginia legislature, 
member of the Virginia convention of 1829-30, 1850-51, and thirtA^-sis 
years president of the Valley Bank of Virginia at Charlestown. His wid- 
owed daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth (Bowyer) Lackland and her two sisters sur- 
vived him). Thomas Griggs, Sr. , married, the third time, Massa McCormick, 
grand-daughter of Dr. John McCormick, who, about the year 1750, came from 
the North of Ireland and settled in the now county of Jefferson, had three 
children. He was a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church for 
more than half a century, lived to the advanced age of ninety -two years, 
died at his residence, "Happy Retreat," in February, 1839, venerated and 
beloved by all, especially by his numerous posterity. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 659 

James, second son of Thomas Griggs, Sr. , was born in January, 1789, 
married Frances Harfield Timberlake (niece of Harfield Timberlake. his 
brother-in-law); his daughter married Thomas W. Timberlake, of "Sher- 
wood," Warren Co., Va. James Griggs resided with his father, aiding 
him in agricultural pursuits, and directing his numerous slaves. He was 
a most estimable man, and enjoyed in a high degree the esteem, confidence 
and love of a large circle of relatives and friends. His home was the abode 
of a liberal hospitality, extended alike to stranger aud friend. It was the 
home of the clergy, where they always received a cordial welcome to his 
hospitable board aud cheerful fireside. Most of his life he was a member 
of the Presbyterian Church in Smithfield, of which he was also a ruling 
elder, and to the doctrines of which 'he was sincerely and intelligently at- 
tached. He died in November, 1853, at "Happy Retreat." A sister died 
in early life. Lee Griggs (third son) was born in April, 1790, was a pupil 
of and boarded in the family of Rev. Moses Hoge, in Shepherdstown. He 
attended Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), studied 
medicine in Charlestown with Dr. S. J. Cramer (a graduate of the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh), graduated M. D. from the University of Pennsylvania, 
at Philadelphia, in 1815, located at Charlestown, and was intimately asso- 
ciated, both socially and professionally, with his instructor and friend, Dr. 
Cramer, during a practice of sixteen years. He died in his forty-second 
year. " As a physician he held a distinguished rank, as a citizen excelled 
by none, as a friend, husband and father, he was unsurpassed in all those 
qualities which intertwine themselves with the fibers of the heart. As a 
magistrate he was intelligent and able, always tempering justice with 
mercy." He married Eliza M. Frame, daughter of Joseph and Anne 
(Keightley) Frame. They came from the North of Ireland in 1796. Their 
eldest daughter, Anne Frame, married the Rev. Robert Taylor Berry, of 
the Presbyterian Church. Their youngest daughter, Eliza Lee, became the 
second wife of Ambrose Cramer Timberlake, son of Harfield and Mary 
(Griggs) Timberlake. 

James Lee Griggs (son of Dr. Lee Griggs) having lost his father when 
three years of age, the care of himself and sisters devolved upon his 
widowed mother, but she, with the Christian's faith, patience and hope, 
assumed and faithfully discharged the duties of her new and trying posi- 
tion. Much of his boyhood was spent in the home of his grandfather and 
uncle, James Griggs, where, under the best tutor they could procure, he 
received his elementary education. His classical education was obtained at 
the academy in Charlestown. On coming to manhood, he took possession 
of and resided upon land bequeathed to him by his grandfather. He was 
a soldier in the late war, joining the army on the day of the first battle of 
Manassas, and continuing to the surrender at Appomattox, discharging 



660 • HISTORY OP THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

faithfully, cheerfully and unwaveringly his duties. He belonged to the com- 
pany, noted as the " Clark Cavalry " of the Sixth Virginia Regiment, and 
in the latter part of the service was severely wounded, the ball which could 
not be extracted he carried through the remainder of his life. He died 
July 25, 1885. Tenderly is his memory cherished by kindred and friends. 

Many of the descendants of Thomas Griggs, Sr., weie soldiers in the late 
war (in the Confederate states service), and many laid down their lives in the 
noble cause of defending their homes and country ; among the number: Lieut. - 
Col. Frank Lackland, in September, 1861; Lawrence Lee Griggs Berry, 
killed, September 21, 1861; Thomas W. Timberlake, died September 20, 
1864; Samuel Harris, Harris Towner and Francis Harris Abbot. 

The family of Harfield and Mary (Griggs) Timberlake i-esided in the 
Lower Shenandoah Valley, and for forty- five years near the home of their 
ancestor, Thomas Griggs. The sons were men possessing, in a marked 
degree, the noble traits which belonged to both branches of their family, 
of sound judgment, uniformity of purpose, and straightforward integrity. 
They were prosperous and successful in business, acting with prudence and 
fairness, and without being oppressive or too exacting in the collection of 
dues. Thomas Lee died in October, 1840. Ambrose Cramer died June 23, 
1874. Richard, one of the jurors in the trial of John Brown, died in April, 
1888. He had two sons in the late war; the elder, Thomas W. Timberlake, 
was a member of the gallant " Clark Cavalry " (Company D), Sixth Vir- 
ginia Regiment. He died in Woodstock, September 20, 1864, from a wound 
received on the 19th of September, 1864, in an engagement near Winchester, 
between the Confederates, under Gen. Early, and the enemy, under Gen. 
Sheridan, another of Virginia's brave and true sons, in the flower of his age, 
laid upon the altar of his country. 

The younger son, James Harfield Timberlake, together with Charles 
James Berry, and Lawrence Lee Griggs Berry, sons of Rev. Robert Taylor 
Berry, youths of only sixteen when they enlisted in Company G, Second 
Virginia Infantry, were with Gen. Johnston when he faced and maneuvered 
against Gen. Patterson at Bunker Hill, and under his standards they made 
the forced march when that general, eluding his enemy in the Valley, 
hastened through Ashby's Gap to Piedmont Station, in order to join Gen. 
Beauregard at Manassas on July 20th, and in the severe and bloody strife 
of the next day (the first battle of Manassas, July 21, 1861,) James H. 
Timberlake was slightly wounded in the neck. (The Berry brothers, more 
fortunate than many of their comrades, passed unhurt through the ordeal of 
the 21st). He, with the younger Berry, continued in the service until the 
surrender of Gen. Lee, and during the war were gallant members, first of 
"Bott's Greys," Stonewall Brigade, and then of Rosser's Cavalry. At the 
Battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, their brigade was hotly engaged 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 661 

and victorious; Charles J. Berry was wounded badly in the leg. In peace 
they were esteemed for their virtues, as in war they were admired for their 
heroic conduct. James H. Timberlake died October 2, 1878. Charles J. 
Berry died April 23, 1889. 

Kennerly Family. J. McK. Kennerly, farmer, White Post, was born 
March 23, 1826, at Greenway Court, Clarke Co. ,Va. He was educated 
at Dickinson College, Penn. After his collegiate course he was engaged in 
farming, until the outbreak of the war, in 1861, when he promptly entered 
the Confederate service, selecting the cavalry as his branch of the army, and 
volunteering as a private in Company D, of the regiment mostly raised in 
his section. He afterward rose to the rank of captain in his regiment, but, 
in consequence of a wound received at Stone creek, near James river, was 
incapacitated for service, and was with his command but little thereafter. 
He was wounded twice in the same battle, something that very rarely occurs. 
September 7, 1854, he was married to Josephine A., daughter of James 
Beale, of Fauquier county, Va. , and has had four children born to him: 
Anna May, wife of J. H. Skinker, of Roanoke, Va. ; Nellie Cook, Martha 
Mason and Thomas M. At the close of hostilities "Capt. Kennerly returned 
to farming. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Virginia, 
is a vestryman of the Episcopal Church, and a democrat. 

W. C. Kennerly, farmer, White Post, was born at Greenway Court. Oc- 
tober 15, 1824, and was educated at Dickinson College, Penn. , graduating 
from that institution in 1842. In 1846 he was married to Margaret F. 
Withers, a daughter of James Withers, of Fauquier county, Va., and settled 
upon his portion of the Greenway estate, where he still resides. He has 
had five childi-en born to him: James Francis, Annie C, Fanny, Minette 
and Edgar, the latter dying in Texas in 1882, aged twenty-eight years. 

Mr. Kennerly entered the Confederate service, in 1861, as lieutenant of 
cavalry. During the past five years he has been engaged in breeding high 
class sporting dogs, and his kennel is famous far and wide for its full- 
blooded stock, a pair of his pure-blood setters having taken the prize over all 
English competitors in England. Mr. Kennerly is a well-known writer on 
field sports (nom deplume, "Old Dominion"), and is recognized as high 
authority on all matters thereunto appertaining. The sales of his kennels. 
Old Dominion and Piedmont, during the year 1889, exceeded 13,000. The 
family are Episcopalians, and he is a member of old Greenway Court Lodge 
of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons. 

Eev. Thomas Kennerly was born in Augusta county, Va., about 1790, 
and married Annie Carnegy, only child of William and Elizabeth Carnegy, 
IDrobably from Scotland, who were employed as steward and stewardess for 
Lord Fairfax. She fell heir to a fine estate, which descended to the family. 
Rev. Thomas Kennerly had born to him three sons and three daughters: 



662 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

William Carnegy, born October 15, 1824; Joseph McK., as stated above; 
Caleb Burwell Eoan, born in 1828, and died off the coast of California in 
1861, of brain fever, whilst returning from a Government surveying expedi- 
tion, he being surgeon and naturalist of the party; Sarah Wrenshaw was 
the eldest, and married E. W. Massey, of Rappahannock county, both dying 
in 1874, leaving eight children, of whom five are living: Mary Elizabeth, 
Annie C , Louisa V. , Fannie A. and Caleb G. For historical sketch of 
Greenway Court and surroundings, see the chapter on Lord Fairfax, Green- 
way, and other portions of this work. 

Dr. E. D. Cherry is a native of South Carolina, and was educated in 
Charleston, that state, and New York City. He graduated from the Univer- 
sity of New York in 1844, and began the practice of medicine at Pendleton, 
S. C. , and after that went to sea. After returning he served as surgeon in 
the Confederate army for four years. He then moved to the West, and in 
1865 returned and began practicing in this county. He was married to 
Miss Edmonia Shull, of this county, and is well known throughout this sec- 
tion, as his practice is very extensive. He resides on the old homestead, 
near Middletown. 

I. S. Tanner, of Shepherdstown, W. Va. , was born in Washington 
county, Md. His grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary army, and 
after the close of the war he settled in Frederick county, Md. 

At about the age of fourteen he came to Shepherdstown and commenced 
the study of medicine under Dr. R. Parran, and also under the direction of 
Dr. Charles McGill, of Hagerstown, and graduated from the University of 
New York in 1845; also from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New 
York City, in 1847. When the war between the North and South com- 
menced, he was practicing in Shepherdstown, but he enlisted as a private in 
Capt. William A.- Morgan's company, and was shortly promoted to a lieu- 
tenantcy, and served in J. E. B. Stewart's cavalry. At the first battle of 
Manassas he acted as one of the aids to Gen. Stewart, but the night after 
the battle he was placed in charge of the Field Hospital at the Pringle 
House, where about 1,000 brave Confederate soldiers, too severely wounded 
to bear transportation, were to be operated on and provided for. Here he 
remained in charge about three weeks, or until all the wounded were able to 
be removed to the general hospitals in the rear. From that time he acted as 
medical officer, and in November, 1862, was commissioned as surgeon in the 
regular Confederate army and assigned to duty in the field with William 
Kirkland's Twenty-first North Carolina Regiment. In the spring of 1863 
he was promoted to the rank of brigade surgeon, and afterward, by order of 
Gen. Lee, was promoted to the position of chief surgeon of division, with 
the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and assigned to duty on the staff of Gen. R. 
E. Hake, at the request of that brave and able division commander. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 663 

Dr. Tanner served in the field during the entire war, was at the battles 
of the lirst and second Manassas, at Richmond, Cold Harbor, Harper' s Ferry, 
Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, Antietam, Gettysburg, and at the first and 
second attacks on Fort Fisher, and surrendered at Greensboro, N. C. Af- 
ter four years of incessant labor and hard duty on the field, he returned to 
his home in Shepherdstown, only to find a faithful and devoted wife and lov- 
ing mother weeping over the empty chairs of the elder daughter and an 
only son, only one child being left. The Springdale stock farm, one mile 
south of Shepherdstown, so flourishing before the war, was now almost a 
common — fences gone, cattle and horses gone, and negroes liberated. 

After a few years of hard labor, energy and skillful management, things 
began to recuperate, and now his Springdale farm is again stocked with 
short-horns and thoroughbreds. Since the war Dr. Tanner has served two 
sessions in the legislature of his state, and was appointed a member of the 
Ninth International Medical Congress. He married Miss Elizabeth Jojin- 
son, of Harper's Ferry. Their only surviving child, Imogen, is the wife of 
Prof. G. W. Banks, of the Shepherdstown Graded School. 

Miss Sarah E. Carter. The father of this lady, Joseph Chambers 
Carter, a descendant of one of William Penn's party, was born in Frederick 
county, Va., about three miles west of Winchester, near the Round Hill. 
He married Elizabeth Lupton, daughter of John and Ann Lupton, from 
Bucks county, Penn. Her father died in 1855 at the age of seventy-five 
years, and her mother in 1853, at the age of seventy-three years. To them 
were born four children: Lydia Ann, Sarah Elizabeth, Mary Margaret (who 
died in infancy) and Joshua Lupton (who died in October, 1887, at the age 
of sixty-four years). The father of Miss Carter was the son of Samuel and 
Ann Carter, nee Chambers, of Frederick county, and whilst her maternal 
grandfather was a native of Bucks county, Penn., his wife was the daugh- 
ter of Lewis and Lydia Neill, nee HoUingsworth, and born in this county. 
While not an active member, the sympathies of Miss Carter are with the 
Society of Friends. 

William Riely, associate editor and business manager of the Win- 
chester Times. His father was Addison Briscoe Riely, a dry goods mer- 
chant of Baltimore, one of the firm of Riely & Pendleton, and his mother 
was Ann R. Rea. Both parents were natives of Winchester, Va. The 
grandfather of Col. Riely on the paternal side was James Riely, a native of 
Maryland, and a dry goods merchant of Winchester, whose wife was Miss 
Chapalier, of St. Mary's county, Md. On the maternal side, the grand- 
father of the subject of this sketch was Samuel Rea, born in County Down, 
Ireland, who was a merchant of Winchester, and whose wife was Miss Agnes 
Irwin, also of Winchester. Col. William Riely was born in Baltimore and 
married a daughter of the late Col. William H. Bizzell, a Red River cotton 



664 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

planter of Southwest Arkansas, and one daughter, Lillian Irwin Riely has 
blessed this union. Col. Riely was in business in Baltimore, but removed 
to Winchester in 1865. He has been associate editor and business manager 
of the Times since 1884. 

F. A. Geaichen, manufacturer, Winchester, Va. As the name indicates, 
this family is of old German lineage, aud our subject was born in Altenburg, 
Germany, in 1827. He is the first son of John A. Graichen and Caroline 
(Lange) Graichen, and was the oldest of nine children. His father was a 
manufacturer of fine leather. 

Our subject, Mr. F. A. Graichen, came to this country in 1848, and 
resided in Baltimore, Md. , where he remained four years; was married in 
1852, to Miss Ernestine Schrader, and the following year, 1853, located in 
W^inchester, Va., and immediately established the Graichen Glove Factory, 
which has grown with the passing years, having an uninterrupted career of 
thirty-seven years, and the good that Winchester derives from this single 
enterprise is shown in the fact that it gives employment in all its departments 
to from 250 to 300 persons. His first wife dying, Mr. Graichen was 
married, in 1868, to Catherine Klees, of Baltimore, daughter of the late 
Henry Klees. The second wife dying, Mr. Graichen, in 1885, was married 
again, the lady being Miss Elizabeth Dieffenderfer, of Winchester, Va., 
daughter of the late George B. Dieffenderfer, one of the oldest citizens of 
the place. He, Mr. Graichen, became the father of six children: Rev. J. 
George Graichen, a Lutheran minister; William C. and Charles F., by the 
first marriage; Annie E., Carrie D. and Frederick A., by his second 
marriage. From 1886 to 1888 Mr. Graichen was mayor of Winchester, 
and is an ex- member of the city council and a member of the board of 
public school- trustees; also a member of the Lutheran Church, of which he 
is a deacon. William C. , his son, is associated with his father in the glove 
manufacturing business, and was married in 1883, to Laura V. Forney, 
daughter of the late Samuel Forney. For several terms he has been elected 
to the city council; a member and deacon of the Lutheran Church, and 
received his education at Roanoke College, Salem, Va. By way of con 
elusion, we can say that Mr. Graichen and his son William C. , have shown 
a degree of business sagacity, backed by unflinching pluck, that not only 
gives to Winchester one of the largest and most completely equipped establish- 
ments of its kind in the United States; but theirs has been among the first 
of southern enterprises to demonstrate that it can manufacture goods in its 
line that are unsurpassed by any made. 

Capt. George W. Kurtz, Winchester. Here is a Virginian of straight 
descent for 150 years, whose grandfather was one of the famous "Dutch 
Mess," who marched from Winchester under the gallant Morgan to the 
siege of Quebec in 1775, where, after the historic hand-to-hand conflict, in 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 665 

which the enemy' s advance batteries were taken, the heroic detachment was 
overwhelmed, captured and consigned to a British prison. Later the old 
veteran under the same brave leader shared on many a hard-fought battle 
field in the feats which made the Virginians famous in the Revolution. His 
remains lie here in the same inclosure within pistol-shot of his intrepid com- 
mander, and, like his, unhonored by sculptured stone, to the shame of the 
majority which claims a monopoly of the patriotism of the country. Capt. 
Kurtz's father, the late Isaac Kurtz, was born in Winchester within a few 
months of 100 years ago, and here fifty years later Capt. Kurtz himself 
first saw the light. He learned the trade of a cabinet-maker with the late 
James Stackhouse, and had just attained the age of manhood, when on 
April 18, 1861, he fell in at the sound of the assembly with the "Morgan 
ContinentalGuards," a company whose gallant services during the terrible 
four years which ensued reflect honor upon Virginia manhood, and will ever 
be remembered with pride. He was detailed as sergeant at headquarters 
with Gen. Carson, who organized the militia of the Valley at the inception 
of the war, and remained in the same capacity with Gen. Jackson, when he 
took command at Harper' s Ferry, and who expressed regret on parting with 
him on the urgent request of his captain, the lamented Avis. We need 
not follow him through the war — that is a dead issue — but he came out at 
its close captain of his company, and without a dollar in his pocket or even 
a change of clothing. He gathered a few tools and materials and began a 
small cabinet-making business in the shops of the late John Kerr; stuck to 
it with the same unfaltering courage and tenacity with which he had clung 
to the waning fortunes of the Confederacy, and after a number of years 
of hard struggling began to get his head above water. Then he rented the 
handsome and commodious building on the corner of Market and Water 
streets, which he now owns, and opened on a rather more pretentious scale, 
still working at the bench and actually building the hearse which was in- 
dispensable for his undertaking business; and a very creditable job it was 
too, although it has long since been discarded for two of the finest and most 
expensive description. In this part of his business, he has been particu- 
larly successful, and his services are frequently demanded in quite distant 
localities, his considerate and delicate management in such times of do 
mestic bereavement having given him a wide reputation. In embalming, too, 
he is very skillful. 

Then he bought the property and added to it as his business incrensed 
until he has not a foot of vacant groiind. Here with a corps of skillful work- 
men he conducts the furniture and undertaking business on a scale fully up 
to the development of the modern trade, and out of a full stock of every 
description of furniture, from a kitchen chair to the most expensive parlor 
set, the most exacting customer has no difficulty in being suited; but if he 



666 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

should happen to want something out of the prevailing style, or to suit a 
particular room or corner of his dwelling, he has but to give his order, and 
the workmen are at hand to turn it out at a moment's warning, com- 
plete and perfect to the minutest detail. While he has pursued the even 
tenor of his way, asking nothing but a chance to work for his living, and 
giving value for every dollar he ever received, his fellow-citizens have rec- 
ognized his worth, and it is a cold year for democrats indeed, when he is 
not, without solicitation on his part, honored with a seat in the governing 
body of our city. Here then is a man whose enterprise, honesty and in- 
dustry entitle him to the highest respect in any community where these 
qualities are honored, and that is what he enjoys right here at home. — Win- 
chester^ Neivs, October 29, 1889. 

The Smiths of "Shooters Hill" claim descent from the "Honorable 
Thomas Smith," who was prominent in the early colonial history of Vir- 
ginia. The tradition running through the numerous branches of the family 
is, that correspondence and documentary evidence existed among the family 
records, which not only established this fact, but also close intimacy and 
even kinship between him and the celebrated John Smith. The destruction 
by fire of the family records early in this century, and the burning of the 
clerk's office of Gloucester county, many years before that, with its records, 
embarrass the present generation in establishing the foregoing facts by 
documentary proof. The fact, however, that the coat of arms of Capt. John 
Smith — three Turks' heads — has been adopted by every branch of the family, 
and that fac similes of the watch seal which Capt. John Smith wore, are 
to be found in the possession of members of the family, which descended to 
them generations ago, would go very far to show that there must be close 
relationship existing. The old Shooters Hill Bil)le records the marriage of 
John Smith, of Purton (his Gloucester estate), to Mary Warner, of Warner 
Hall, in 1680. This John Smith was the grandfather of Gen. Smith, of 
Hackwood Park. An original document, containing a survey of land for an 
ancestor of same iame back of this time, bearing date 1643, is in possession 
of a member of the family. This traces Virginia ancestry very near to the 
lifetime of "Pocahontas John." 

The Jaquelin line of ancestry of Gen. Smith is thoroughly defined. Mrs. 
Susan Dabney Smedes, in her book on certain old Virginia families, which 
Mr. Gladstone has commended so highly, says: "Edward Jaquelin, of 
Jamestown, was the son of John Jacquelin and Elizabeth Braddock, of Kent, 
in England. He was descended from the noble family of La Roche Jaque- 
lin, in France. The family were Protestants, and tied from La Vendue, 
in France, to England, during the reign of that bloodthirsty tyrant, Charles 
IX., a short time previous to the massacre of St. Bartholomew. They were 
eminently wealthy, and were fortunate enough to convert a large portion 



(K 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 667 v 

of their wealth into gold and silvei', which they transported in safety to 
England. The grandson of John Smith, of Purton, John Smith, of Shooters 
Hill (father of Gen. Smith, of Hackwood Park), married, in 1737, Mary 
Jaquelin, one of the three beautiful daughters of Edward Jaquelin. The 
ceremony was performed at Jamestown, by the Rev. William Dawson." 

John Ambler, of Jamestown, the ancestor of this numerous and promi- 
nent family in Virginia, married another daughter of Edward Jaquelin, and 
one of their daughters became the wife of Chief Justice Marshall. Bishop 
Meade, in his book on "The Old Churches and Families in Virginia," says: 
' ' The old church at Jamestown is no longer to be seen, except the base of 
its ruined tower. A few tombstones, with the names of Amblers and 
Jaquelins, the chief owners of the island for a long time; and the Lees of 
Green Spring, a few miles from Jamestown, still mark the spot where so 
many were interred during the earlier years of the colony. Some of the 
sacred vessels are yet to be seen, either in private hands or in public tem- 
ples of religion. The third and last of the pieces of church furniture which 
is now in use in one of our congregations, is a silver vase, a font for bap- 
tism, which was presented to the Jamestown Church in 1733 by Martha 
Jaquelin, widow of Edward Jaquelin, and their son Edward. In the year 
1785 when the act of assembly ordered the sale of church property, it 
reserved that which was passed by right of private donation." Under this 
provision it reverted to the family, and through Mrs. Chief Justice Marshall 
was presented to the Episcopal Monumental Church, Richmond, Va., where 
it is now used as the baptismal font. This church is built on the spot 
where the Richmond Theatre stood when it was burned in 1811, destroying 
the lives of the governor of the state and many other prominent and useful 
citizens, and was erected as a memorial to them. 

From the foregoing, it will not cause surprise to hear Mrs. Smede say in 
her book: "Through the Smiths and Jaquelins my father was related to 
the Washingtons, Marshalls, Amblers, Joneses, Pages, Carys, Macons, Car- 
ringtons and many other Virginia families." This is not strange. The 
same extensive and interwoven relationship is the history of all the old 
families in the state. 

Gen. John Smith, of Hackwood Park, Frederick Co., Va., was born 
at Shooters Hill, the family seat, Middlesex county, Va. , in the year 1747. 
He was a son of John Smith, a large land owner of that county, and Mary 
Jaquelin, daughter of Edward Jaquelin, of Jamestown, Va., a descendant 
of the prominent Huguenot family of that name. Gen. Smith settled in 
Frederick county in 1772. His reason for selecting a location in the 
vicinity of Winchester was because it was one of the few spots in the valley 
of Virginia where virgin forests were to be found. Elsewhere, including 
what is now Clarke county and other rich agricultural sections in the Valley, 



668 HISTOKY OF THE LOWEE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

the forests had disappeared by the torch of the Indian, who continually 
burned them, in the interest of the chase. This information is doubtless 
startling to those now living in these localities amidst forests that would 
seem to be primeval. Gen. Smith soon became one of the leading citizens 
of his section. When the Revolutionary war began he held the positions 
under the colonial government of King's justice and county lieutenant. 
The latter office gave him supreme military command of the militia in Fred- 
erick county, which at that time embraced a very large extent of territory. 
In February, 1776, several months before the Declaration of Independence, 
he resigned these positions to participate actively in the war for independ- 
ence. He was immediately intrusted by the "Council of Safety of Vir- 
ginia" with the same military authority which he had held under the 
crown. When the new state government was organized, he was commis- 
sioned a colonel, and afterward rose to the rank of brigadier and major-gen 
eral. His military supervision extended throughout that section of the 
state embracing the Valley, and he had charge of many prisoners of war, 
including the Hessians captured at Trenton. At the close of the war Gen. 
Smith was chosen to represent his county in the Legislature for many years, 
and he also represented the Winchester district in congress for eighteen 
years, embracing the period of the last war with Great Britain. Gen. 
Smith was tall, of commanding and striking personal appearance; and his 
amiable and sympathetic nature secured him great esteem and popularity. 
He died in 1837 in his ninetieth year, and is buried in the family lot at 
Hackwood Park. Gen. Smith married Miss Anna Bull, daughter of John 
Bull, of the vicinity of Norristown, Penn., who being forced to leave his home 
because of his active devotion to the "rebel" cause, removed with his 
efPects to the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, where he acquired considerable 
landed estate, deeds of conveyance to which bearing his name represent 
some of the most valuable properties in Jefferson and Berkeley counties. 
His daughter, Mrs. Smith, was highly cultivated and intellectual, and pos- 
sessed those strong womanly traits of character calculated to make heroic 
and useful lives in troublous times, as her own proved to be. Hackwood 
Park was the hospitable rendezvous for not a few of the patriot statesmen 
and generals of that period, and if what is left of the olden time could 
speak, many thrilling pages might be written of conferences held, plans 
laid, and events foreshadowed within the walls and amidst surroundings 
which by the besom of the late conflict became the mournful wreck and 
debris of a reckless and ruthless vandalism. The correspondence of Gen. 
Smith embraced letters from the president of the continental congress, 
Washington, JefPerson, Madison, Harrison, Wythe, Henry, etc., and many 
of the prominent generals, including Wood, Stephens, Charles Lee, Gates 
and Dark. The peculiar chirography and original orthography of the 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 669 

latter made his letters not only very expressive, but very interesting, on 
account of their quaint and bold English. 

Mr. Edward Jaquelin Smith, of Winchester, the father of Mr. Jaquelin 
Smith and Dr. Philip Smith, of Clarke county, and of Mrs. John Bruce, of 
Winchester, was his brother. Matthew Smith, the young lieutenant of Lee's 
legion, who, history says, at the battle of Germantown, volunteered, at the 
call of Gen. Washington, to carry the flag of truce to the enemy at Chew's 
house, and was killed under the eye of his general, was a younger brother. 
Col. Augustine C. Smith and Col. J. B. D. Smith, the former of whom rep- 
resented his district in the senate, and the latter his county in the house of 
delegates for a number of years, were his sons. Peyton Smith, who, fresh 
from William and Mary with its highest honors, was killed in the famous 
duel at Shepherdstowu, Va. , was his eldest son. Mrs. Davison, mother of 
Hon. John Smith Davison, of Warren county, and of Mrs. Isaac F. Hite, of 
Frederick covmty, and of Edward J. and Drs. William and Alexander Davi- 
son, who emigrated to and became prominent citizens of Missouri, was his 
daughter. Mrs. Mills, the wife of Robert Mills, the architect of the Wash- 
ington monument and most of the prominent public buildings at Washing- 
ton, one of whose daughters married the distinguished scholar and diplomat- 
ist, Alexander Dimitry, of Louisiana, and Mrs. James R. Daniel, of Jack- 
sonville, Fla. , the mother of the prominent Daniel family of that state, were 
also his daughters. Dr. John Augustine Smith, the president of William 
and Mary College, and afterward the president of the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons, New York City, was his nephew, as was also Dr. Augustine 
J. Smith, of West Grove, near Alexandria, Va. , whose descendants, besides 
those of his own name who became prominent at the bar, in the navy and in 
commerce, represent numerous well-known families in the state, including 
the Turners and Masons, of King George county, and the Morgans, of 
Falling Spring, Jefferson Co. , W. Va. , through the marriage of his daugh- 
ters. This nephew was Gen. Smith's ward and lived with his uncle at 
Hackwood Park, as also did his sister, Mary Jaquelin, who married Mr. 
Vowell, of Alexandria, and was the mother of Mrs. Francis L. Smith and 
Mrs. Edward Daingerfield, of that city. Of the grandchildren bearing his 
name, only three are living: Dr. Charles Magill Smith, a prominent physi- 
cian of St. Mary's parish. La.; Augustine Jaquelin Smith, of Washington 
city, late president of the Maryland Agricultural College, and A. Magill 
Smith, the principal of the Episcopal Female Institute, Winchester, Va., 
sons of Col. Augustine C. Smith. 

Col. Augustine C. Smith, of Winchester, Va. , was a son of Gen. John 
Smith, of Hackwood Park, Frederick Co., Va., where he was born in 
1789. He was educated at William and Mary College, receiving the highest 
honors of that institution. He selected law as his profession, and was in 



670 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

successful practice when the war of 1812 with Great Britain began. Upon 
its declaration by the United States, he volunteered his services, and was 
commissioned a major, and assigned to the Thirty-first Regiment of Infantry. 
During the war he rose to the rank of colonel. When Gen. Ross, the English 
commander, threatened the capital, he obtained leave of absence from his 
regiment, than stationed at Norfolk, and sought in person, of President 
Madison, participation in the impending conflict. He was ordered to report 
to Gen. Winder commanding the American troops, and was assigned to duty 
in his stafF by that ofiicer just as the battle of Bladensburg was opening. 
He had his horse shot under him in that engagement. At the conclusion of 
the war he was retained in the regular service and was commissioned 
lieutenant-colonel in the Twelfth Regiment of Infantry. Being a man of 
scholarly tastes and strong domestic sympathies, army life became very 
irksome to him, and after a few years' service, he resigned his commission 
and resumed the practice of his profession at Winchester. He enjoyed a 
state reputation as a vigorous writer upon the leading public questions of 
the day. He was called by his fellow-citizens to represent the Winchester 
district in the senate of Virginia, and came within a few votes of being 
elected to congress over Hon. Edward Lucas, of Jefferson county, carrying 
his own county, Frederick, by a large majority. The annals of the Presby- 
terian Church in Virginia during this period, between 1820 and 1830, will 
show that he was a prominent participant in its councils in connection with 
most important events in its history. Issues upon questions of discipline 
touching matters of local interest caused him, together with a number of 
others, in obedience to conscientious convictions of duty, to disconnect him- 
self with this denomination, and he joined the Episcopal Church, but his 
affection for the Presbyterian Church never wavered up to the time of his 
death, and he was a frequent attendant at its services. The Rev. Dr. 
Atkinson, the minister in charge of the Winchester congregation at the time 
of his death, was one of his most intimate friends, and participated in his 
funeral services. Public and private intei'ests, attention to which involved 
both mental and physical strain, proved too much for a not very vigorous 
constitution, already enfeebled by malaria contracted in the army, and he 
was forced to abandon his profession temporarily. He was prevailed upon 
to take charge of the W inchester Academy, and brought that institution to 
a high standard of educational excellence. A change of climate being 
recommended for his health, in 1836 he accepted the charge of the Female 
Seminary at Columbia, S. C. He resigned this position and returned to 
Winchester in 1840. He died in 1843. He was prosecuting attorney for the 
corporation of Winchester at the time of his death. He married Elizabeth 
Daingerfield, the eldest daughter of Col. Charles Magill, a leading lawyer of 
Winchester, and fifteen children blessed this union. Four died in infancy; 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGKAPHY. 671 

eleven grew to adult age, all* of whom but the eldest son married and raised 
families. His sons were Drs. John Augustine and Charles Magill Smith, 
who became prominent physicians in Louisiana; Augustine J. Smith, late 
president of the Maryland Agricultural College, and A. Magill Smith, the 
principal of the Episcopal Female Institute at Winchester, Va. The 
daughters now living are Mrs. C B. Hite, of Belle Grove, Frederick Co., 
Va. ; Mrs. L. E. Swartzwelder, of Winchester; Mrs. John Marshall, of 
Edgeworth, Fauquier Co. , Va. ; Mrs. William A. Morgan, of Falling 
Spring, JefPerson Co., W. Va., and Mrs. G. W. Jackson, of Waco, Texas. 

Peof. a. Magill Smith, principal of the Episcopal Female Institute, 
Winchester, was born in Winchester, Va. , in 1834, and is the son of Col. 
Augustine C. Smith, who was also a native of that vicinity. Prof. Smith's 
grandfather was Gen. John Smith, of Hackwood Park, Frederick Co., Va., 
a prominent figure of colonial times, the owner of a large estate, and for 
eighteen years a representative of his district in congress. Augustine C. 
Smith was a colonel in the war of 1812, a lawyer of prominence at the 
Winchester bar and represented his district in the senate of Virginia. 

Our subject spent his early days in Winchester, and was educated at the 
University of Virginia, where he graduated, taking the degree of A. M. 
His father was a graduate of William and Mary College of Virginia. 
Prof. Smith spent sixteen years as principal of the Shenandoah Valley 
Academy, and to him can be attributed the growth and building up of 
that school. He is now in charge of the Episcopal Female Institute of 
Winchester, and has been for the past three years. He is a member of the 
Episcopal Church. As a scholar and educator, no one in the State pos- 
sesses a wider reputation than Prof. Smith. His pupils have ranked among 
the best prepared students at the colleges and universities of the country, 
and a number of them are to be found among the prominent men of the 
land. When immediately after the war the public school system of the 
state was being instituted, Prof. Smith was requested by the authorities in 
Frederick county to organize their school system. And, although his own 
private school demanded laborious attention, he yielded to earnest solicita- 
tion, and organized the public-school system of his county, retaining its 
supervision until it was well established and could be transferred to com- 
petent management. Gentle and amiable qualities, conjoined with con- 
scientious firmness and fidelity in the discharge of duty and responsibility, 
have always secured for him a public and personal confidence and esteem 
which few men enjoy. 

Prof. Smith, like all the young men of Virginia, joined the fortunes of 
his state, when the war between the states became a necessity. He re- 
signed his position as teacher in a prominent school and joined the First 
Regiment of Cavalry commanded by Col. J. E. B. Stuart, becoming a mem- 



672 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

ber of Capt. (afterward Col.) William A. Morgan's company of Jefferson 
county, Va. He participated in the first battle of Manassas and other minor 
engagements, but was transferred to the topographical arm of the service, 
and continued in it actively to the end of the war. 

Prof. Smith married Mary Boiling Meredith, daughter of the late Rev. 
Dr. William C. Meredith, rector of the Episcopal Church at Winchester, 
who, in addition to the motherly care of an interesting family of nine chil- 
dren, has always been an efficient helpmate in his educational work. 

Prof. Smith owns a beautiful farm of 600 acres located near Markham 
station, in Fauquier county, Va. , overlooking a landscape of unrivaled 
beauty, where he spends his summer vacation with his family. 

Isaac H. Faulkner, Sk. , subject of this memoir, was born in Easton, 
Talbot Co., Md. , August 19, 1816. He was the son of James and Re- 
becca Faulkner, who were the parents of three children, of whom Isaac was 
the youngest; he removed to Baltimore in 1828 and engaged in the trade of 
boot and shoe making. He removed to Winchester, Va. , in 1836, and en- 
gaged in business, where he has continued to reside to the present time. 
On the 9th of November, 1837, he was married to Julia, daughter of John 
Frederick, of Frederick county, Va. , who emigrated to this country from 
Hesse Cassel in 1804, and married a lady by the name of Catherine Kremer. 
He (John Frederick) identified himself with the defenders of his adopted 
country in 1812, and afterward served under Gen. Sam. Houston, in the war 
for the independence of Texas, where he lost his life in the year 1838. He 
was the father of four daughters, viz. : Caroline, Catherine, Julia and Eliza- 
beth, of whom Caroline is the only survivor. Isaac H. Faulkner, after mar- 
riage to Julia Frederick, became the father of eight sons and one daughter, 
of whom five sons and the daughter are living, viz. : James, Isaac, William, 
Walter, Oliver and Virginia. 

Isaac H. Faulkner has been a successful business man for forty years, 
and has accumulated a comfortable competency, and for twenty-two years 
has been a member of the city council. 

James F. Faulkner was born February 5, 1839. He received his educa- 
tion in the common schools, and engaged in business with his father, and at 
the outbreak of the war joined the Stonewall brigade, and remained with 
that command until after the battle of Sharpsburg, where he was made a 
prisoner. After his release he joined Mosby's command (cavalry), with 
which he remained until he was paroled after the surrender. Since 1866 
he has engaged in the mercantile business with his father and brother Isaac. 
His first wife was Hannah C. Huntsberry, and by her he had four children. 
He was married, the second time, to Lucy R. Larrick, by whom he had one 
child. He has served several terms in the city council. 

Isaac H. Faulkner, Jr., was born in Winchester, Frederick Co., Va., 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 673 

where he was educated at the common and high schools. At the beginning of 
the war he enlisted in the army, joining Company A, Fifth Virginia Infantry, 
Stonewall's brigade. He served four years, was wounded at Chancellors- 
ville and Richmond. After the war he returned to Winchester, Va. , and 
has been identified with the place as a merchant and agriculturist, being the 
owner of a fine farm near Winchester, known as the Hayfield f^arm. He was 
married to Miss Siddie S. Seevers, daughter of William H. Seevers. Three 
children were born, the mother dying March 21, 1876. Mr. Faulkner then 
married, Nov. 1882, Miss Alice B., daughter of John Giffin, of Frederick 
county, Va., and to them were born four children. From 1866 to 1873 he 
was engaged in the mercantile business with his father and brother, James, 
but since 1873 he has been engaged in the dry goods, boot and shoe trade. 
He has served as mayor of the city and as a member of the city council a 
number of terms, and is identified with the republican party. 

John W. Faulkner, the third son of I. H. Faulkner, Sr., was born in 
1844 and educated in Winchester, Va. He accepted a position in the drug 
store of George F. Miller, where he remained until the beginning of the 
late war, when he was detailed to the medical staff of Stonewall Jackson's 
corps, from which position he was removed to the general medical depart- 
ment, at Lynchburg, Va. , which position he held until the close of the war, 
when he engaged in business in Lynchburg, establishing the well-known 
wholesale and retail drug house of Faulkner & Craighill, and later the new 
firm of Faulkner & Hanvey, considered the finest drug house in the state. 
He married Miss Rosa B. Adams, daughter of John Q. Adams, of Lynch- 
burg, Va. , by whom he has six children — three boys and three girls. 

Walter W. Faulkner, fourth son of I. H. Faulkner, Sr. , was born in 
1849, and educated at the Winchester Academy. He participated in the 
late civil war, as a member of John S. Mosby' s partisan command. Up to 
1885 he was a resident of Winchester, since which time he has been living 
in Florida, where he is engaged in the lumber business. 

Oliver F. Faulkner, youngest son of I. H. Faulkner, Sr. , was born in 
1854, and received his education at the Shenandoah Valley Academy. He 
was married in 1881 to Mary S. Vanmeter, a daughter of Philip C. Vanme- 
ter and Susan Mead (Hedges) Vanmeter, of Hedgesville, Berkeley Co. , W. 
Va. , by whom he has one son. 

Glaize Family. The Glaize family, for more than a century, has been 
identified with Frederick county. George Glaize, the pioneer settler (a son 
of Frederick Glaize, or " Kloess," as it was sometimes written), was born 
near Reading, Penn., and married Catharine Hetzel, a minister's daughter, 
near the same place. He moved to Frederick county, Va. , previous to 1790, 
and purchased a farm where the Hessian prisoners were quartered during 
the Revolutionary war, about four miles west of Winchester, where he lived 

41 



674 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

until the time of his death, in 1823. He had five sons and one daughter: 
Sampson, Henry, Solomon, George, John H. and Joannah, who survived 
him. 

Sampson, the oldest son, was wedded to Elizabeth Renner, a native of 
Frederick county, and they became the parents of nine children, of whom 
three sons and four daughters grew to maturity. He was a well-to-do farmer 
and a public-spirited and enterprising man; was a soldier in the war of 
1812, was born October 13, 1791, and died February 7, 1850. His son, 
George F. Glaize, was born in 1827, and raised on his father's farm, which 
he left in 1853, and has since been engaged in the lumber business in Win- 
chester. At the call for troops in 1861 he and his two brothers, Isaac N. 
and Henry W. Glaize, entered the Confederate service. In 1864 he was 
commissioned a first lieutenant in the Twenty-third Virginia Cavalry, where 
he served until the close of the war. In 1875 Alice E. , daughter of Henry 
Stine, of this county, became his wife, and to them was born, in 1876, a son, 
Frederick L. Glaize. Mr. Glaize is a democrat politically, has been a mem- 
ber of the city council of Winchester, is chief of the fire department, one 
of the directors of the Union Bank of Winchester, a director in the Citi- 
zens' Building Association, also a Knight Templar, and is an elder in the 
Lutheran Church. His brother, Isaac N. Glaize, belonged to the Second 
Virginia Infantry, Stonewall brigade, and was killed in the first battle 
of Manassas, July 21, 1861. His brother Henry W. Glaize was a soldier 
in the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry until the close of the war. He was wounded 
in the battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 1864. 

Solomon Glaize, the third son of George Glaize, was born January 12, 
1796. He was married to Elizabeth Streit in 1825, who died in 1837. He 
was again married, to Elizabeth Fries, in 1839, who died July 6, 1875. He 
was the father of seven children, of whom John W. Glaize, Mrs. Henry 
Stine, Mrs. Isaac Stine, Rachel Glaize and David S. Glaize are still living. 
Solomon spent his whole life upon his farm. He was thrown from his horse 
and received injuries from which he died March 11, 1878, at the age of 
eighty-two years. 

David S. Glaize, the youngest son of Solomon and Elizabeth (Fries) 
Glaize, was born August 23, 1842. He also spent his early life in this 
county as a farmer. At the commencement of the war he entered the Con- 
federate service. He was captured in February, 1862, and was a prisoner 
in Camp Chase, Ohio, until the following September, when he was ex- 
changed at Vicksburg, Miss. After the war he was deputy sheriff for two 
years, deputy treasurer for ten years, and succeeded John H. Wotring as 
treasurer of Frederick county in 1888. He was married, February 26, 1885, 
to Elizabeth B. Baker, daughter of J. Milton Baker, and they are the par- 
ents of one child, David Brevitt Glaize, who was born May 31, 1888. In 
politics Mr. Glaize is a democrat. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 675 

Capt. John Glaize was born in Frederick county, Va. , October 9, 1822. 
His father, Henry Glaize, was born in 1794, and was the son of George 
Glaize. Henry married Anne Yeackley, and to them were born nine 
children, three of whom are living. He made farming his occupation and 
was successful at it. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and died 
at the age of eighty -five years. Capt. Glaize has spent all his days in 
Frederick county, with the exception of four years in the army. He was 
married to Selina G. , daughter of Edwin S. Baker, and they became the 
parents of five children — three sons and two daughters. In 1861 he was 
appointed quartermaster, and was with Jackson's corps until the death of 
that brilliant officer, and surrendered with Gen. Lee at Appomattox. Capt. 
Glaize has been in the mercantile and lumber business, and for a number 
of years was engaged in operating in real estate. He was a magistrate 
before the war, and high sheriff in 1867-68. He was at one time railroad 
director, turnpike director, and president of the city council of Winchester, 
which position he has filled for two terms. Politically he is a republican. 

Cartmell Family. This family name appears in the earliest records of 
the county of Frederick, showing that five brothers and two sisters lived 
upon their own cultivated plantations, the names of the boys being Nathan, 
Martin, Edward, Thomas and Nathaniel; one sister married Paul Froman; 
the second sister, Dorothy, died single, and disposed of her slaves by a will 
probated in 1750. Martin and Nathan died unmarried; the will of one 
shows that their mother was still living in 1758, "very aged." This leaves 
Edward, Thomas, Nathaniel and Mrs. Froman. Edward and Thomas set- 
tled on or near what is now known as Cedar creek (a small stream running 
through said lands bears the name of " Froman's run"); Thomas also 
owned a large tract of land located about two miles west from the borough 
of Winchester, being about where Lewis M. Miller now lives: Edward also 
owned land in the " Big Woods " south of the boundary line of said bor- 
ough, embracing, as a recent investigation shows, the land where the 
colored cemetery is now located. Nathaniel settled near the Opequon, near 
a large spring. May 7, 1747, there is recorded a deed from Nathaniel 
Thomas to Nathaniel Cartmell, for 200 acres of land near the mountain, 
and bounded on the east by said Cartmell' s other tracts of land. 

These brothers, sisters and mother were certainly living in this county 
as early as 1743; evidence upon record shows this; how much earlier they 
came we have no evidence, except what tradition gives, and this places them 
here prior to 1738, when they crossed the Blue Ridge and took possession 
of the vast tract granted them by the crown. This claim is somewhat sus- 
tained by facts brought out in a suit by Lord Fairfax to eject Nathaniel 
Cartmell from a certain tract of land. The court sustained the Cartmell 
claim, and seven generations of the name occupied the same property, the 



676 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

home being the property now owned by Mathias Miller, near the head of 
the Opequon; from this branch of the family descended what is now the 
Cartmell family in this county. 

Nathaniel Cartmell died, as his will shows, in 1795, at an advanced age, 
and bequeathed a large and valuable estate to his children, viz. : Thomas. 
Nathan, Nathaniel, John, Jacob, Elijah, Solomon, Martin, Elizabeth, Sarah, 
Rachel and Mary. Nathan and Elijah Cartmell soon removed to Kentucky; 
Jacob and John settled in Ohio, and from them have sprung large families 
in both states, who are to day prominent in their several sections as influ- 
ential and useful citizens. Nathaniel, Solomon and Martin lived and died 
in this county. Nathaniel was settled by his father on the large and beau- 
tiful property near the Round Hill, called "Retirement," and, dying at an 
advanced age, left one child, M. B. Cartmell, to inherit and take his name 
and estate. M. B. Cartmell, married at an early age, Eliza Campbell, 
daughter of William Campbell, of the same neighborhood, who was a native 
of Londonderry, Ireland ; eight children were born unto them, four of whom 
lie in the churchyard adjoining the old homestead, and near by the parents, 
the graves of all being marked by slabs, giving dates, etc. One, however, 
deserves further notice, "M. B. Cartmell, Jr.;" his epitaph shows that he 
sealed his life in devotion to his native state, Virginia, during the Civil war, 
as captain of Company B, Eleventh Virginia Regiment of Cavalry, Army of 
Northern Virginia. Two sons and one daughter still live in this county, 
the other son, N. M. Cartmell, after rearing a large family in this county, 
is now a resident of another part of Virginia. The three living here con- 
stitute what is left of the Nathaniel branch of the family in this county, ojily 
one of whom has married, viz. : Thomas K. Cartmell, who married Annie 
G. , daughter of James Carr Baker; one daughter, Annie Lyle, is their only 
surviving child. Thomas K. is the clerk of the county court of this county. 
As before stated, the other two children of M. B. Cartmell here are Robert 
M. and Mary E. Cartmell. Nathaniel, in his will referred to, makes special 

bequests to two of his daughters; one is pounds and also one negro 

wench, named "Sid," to Elizabeth, wife of Dr. Michael Archdeacon. The 
fourth clause of said will bequeaths unto his daughter, Mary Willis, the wife 
of Nathaniel Willis, one hundred pounds; this daughter was the mother of 
Nathaniel P. Willis the poet, and also of Fanny Fern. One of this branch 
married into the Furgeson family, of Ohio. 

Many persons traveling the Cedar Creek graded road at this day will be 
interested to know that the first road leading to the then borough of Win- 
chester was ordered to be opened at the March court, 1745. Samuel Glass 
living near the Cartmells at the head of the Opequon, Vance Marks, living 
on the Opequon below, and Paul Froman and others near Cedar creek, were 
appointed to lay out the best and nearest route to the county seat, and mark 



^ 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 677 

the way through the big timbers. Nathaniel Cartmell and Paul Froman 
were appointed by the court as overseers of said road; "said road to com- 
mence at ' Froman' s run,' pass via Cartmell' s springs, and on to Winches- 
ter." At the May court, 1748, the court by an order established what they 
termed the "constabulary" of the county, and Nathaniel Cartmell was 
appointed as chief, and resigned his office as overseer of the road to take 
the office. 

The Cartmells mentioned in the beginning of this sketch emigrated from 
a place in England called Cartmell, in Lancashire county, near the West- 
moreland county line, in which county quite a number of the same name 
live at this day, and at the writing of this, the two branches in the two 
countries are in correspondence with each other. 

Randolph K. Ogden, Berryville, son of David and Catherine Ogden, 
was born in Jefferson county, Va., in 1843. His father was a native of 
Adams county, Penn., born in 1812. At the age of twelve years he came 
to Virginia and settled in Jefferson county. He married Catherine, daugh- 
ter of Henry and Elizabeth Gilbert, of Jefferson county, Va. , and by this 
union there were ten children, only six of whom are living, viz. : Henry G. , 
Francis B. , Randolph K. , John J., Margaret A. and Charles D. Their 
mother died in 1863, at the age of fifty-three years, and their father in 1876, 
at the age of sixty-five years. He was a farmer by occupation, which pur- 
suit he followed during life. 

His son, Randolph K. , was married in 1869 to Henrietta, daughter of 
Benjamin and Mary Ann Roderick, and the result of this union has been 
nine children, six of whom died at an early age, the eldest being fourteen 
years. Those living are: Florence B., Minnie L., and Chester W. Mr. Ogden 
was reared on a farm and at the outbreak of the late war enlisted in Com- 
pany A, Second Virginia Infanty, and served all through the war. He was 
in many important engagements, and was twice wounded and twice capt- 
ured. In 1868 he came to Berryville and formed a partnership with John 
L. Thompson, under the firm name of Thompson & Ogden, contractors and 
builders. Mr. Ogden is a member of the Masonic fraternity, has served 
as councilman of Berryville for some six years, and has just been re-elected 
(1889). 

Richard De Grotte Hardesty, merchant, Berryville, son of James M. and 
Sarah (Williamson) Hardesty, was born in Clarke county, Va., in 1848. His 
grandfather, Richard Hardesty, Jr. , son of Richard and Mary Hardesty, 
was born in Talbot county, Md., February 17, 1770. He settled near Smith- 
field, Jefferson Co., Va. , about 1791, and soon after married Sarah, daugh- 
ter of John and Mary Smith. She was born June 9, 1770, and by this mar- 
riage there were nine children: John S., Isaac, Lee, George, Ephraim, 
Reese, Franklin, Moses and Mary. After the death of the mother he mar- 



678 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

riecl a Miss Pierce, and by this union there were eleven children: William G. 
(born March 20, 1817), Richard S., Adrian D., Thomas P., James M. 
(father of R. D., the subject of this sketch), Lucy A., Catherine E., Charles 
W. , Joseph R. , Elizah and Matilda. 

Mr. Hardesty purchased and settled on the Rockhill farm in Frederick, 
now in Clarke county, Va. , four miles west of Berryville, in 1832, upon 
which he resided till his decease in 1848. A daughter of Reese Hardesty 
married United Slates Senator Daniel Voorhees, and Mr. G. Hardesty repre- 
sented Clarke county for two terms in the legislature. James M. Hardesty, 
father of R. D., was twice married; first to Sarah Williamson Jones and 
by this marriage there were six children: Richard D., Mary V., Bettie, 
Matthias J., Adrian D. and Rose T. His next marriage was to Miss Fos- 
ter, by whom he had one child, Cora. Richard D. Hardesty was married 
June 4, 1874, to Mary F., daughter of Lewis and Emma Dix, of King and 
Queen county, Va., and their children are Louise, George N. , James R. 
and Francis D. Mr. Hardesty was reared on a farm, but early in life en- 
gaged as a clerk in a store and for the past twenty years has been engaged 
in mercantile business, being at the present time one of Berryville' s most 
substantial merchants. 

William N. Nelson, farmer, Millwood, Clarke Co., Va. , was born in 
Mecklenburg county, Va. , July 26, 1824. His father was Maj. Thomas M. 
Nelson, who served with distinction in the war of 1812, and was a member 
of congress for two terms, from the Brunswick district, Va. He was the 
son of Maj. John Nelson, a young cavalry officer of the Revolutionary army, 
whose wife, Ann Carter, was a daughter of John Carter, elder brother of 
Robert, called "King" Carter. He was the son of Thomas Nelson, of 
Yorktown, known as Secretary Nelson, and brother of William Nelson, presi- 
dent of the King's Council, and father of Gen. Thomas Nelson, of the Revo- 
lution, and governor of Virginia. Secretary Nelson was a son of Thomas 
Nelson, who came to Virginia about the latter p)art of the seventeenth century, 
from Cumberland county, England. Our subject's mother was Sally, daugh- 
ter of that holy man, John Page, of Pagebrooke, in Frederick, now Clarke, 
county, Va. His wife was the daughter of Col. Byrd, of Westover, on the 
James river. 

Mr. Nelson's father moved with his family to Georgia in 1839, and lived 
near Columbus until his death in 1858. Mr. Nelson returned to Virginia 
in 1852, and married Mary Atkinson Page, daughter of William Byrd Page, 
of Pagebrooke. His children are: Thomas M. Nelson, who resides in Clarke 
county, Va. ; Eliza Nelson, wife of John C. Woolfolk. now of Montgomery, 
Ala., and Evelyn Nelson, wife of William C. Turpin, of Macon, Ga. As 
to education he says, what with idleness, imperfect methods and inefficient 
teachers of common schools, and so-called academies, the six or seven years 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 679 

he spent at school were well nigh entirely wasted. What education he has 
acquired has been since his school days, which ended in his seventeenth 
year. Soon after he attained his majority, war was declared against Mexico, 
and in the latter part of the spring of 1847 he raised a company of infantry, 
in Columbus, Ga., in compliance with a call for a battalion of infantry. 
He expected to take part in Gen. Scott's advance after the battle of Cerro 
Gordo. 

The other companies to form the battalion were slow in responding, con- 
sequently they did not reach Mexico until after the battles (resulting in the 
capture of the city) had been fought, and their services were confined to 
garrison duty. After returning from Mexico, where he had remained until 
peace was declared, he first turned his thoughts to the politics of the coun- 
try, and adopted the views of that splendid statesman and pure patriot, 
John C Calhoun. He never sought ofiice, but in 1860 was nominated as 
secession candidate to represent Clarke county in the convention, which 
tardily passed the ordinance of secession. Clarke county was strongly 
Union, and he was defeated. His opponent was Maj. Hugh M. Nelson, a 
noble gentleman, who lost his life defending his native state. Mr. Nelson 
did not desire the dissolution of the Union. He thought then, as he still 
thinks, that after the secession of the gulf states, the most probable way of 
preserving peace and bringing about a reconciliation between the sections, 
was for the border states to go out in a body, and in the event of war it was 
best for the South to present a solid front with fuller time for preparation. 
On the 18th of April, 1862, anticipating a call from the governor of Vir- 
ginia, Mr. Nelson took a company of infantry, composed of as gallant a set 
of young men as ever carried muskets, in the direction of Harper's Ferry, 
and on that memorable night he was the first with his noble boys to put foot 
into that historic town. Three months afterward, at the first battle of 
Manassas, he received a wound which so disabled him as to prevent his tak- 
ing any further active part in the war. Until the surrender of Appomattox 
he was detailed on light duty, rendering such service as he could to a cause 
which had and deserved his deepest devotion. In the session of 1879-80 
he represented the counties of Clarke and Warren, in the lower house of 
the general assembly. For several years prior to that he was superintend- 
ent of free schools for the county of Clarke. This work, which presented 
a field for usefulness, he enjoyed very much. 

Mr. Nelson was baptized in the, Protestant Episcopal Church, of which 
his ancestors have been members since its organization, and it is presumed 
were members of the church in England ever since the conversion of Britain 
to Christianity. He became a communing member of the church in 1852, 
and since then his most pleasant duties have been in connection with the 
offices of Christ Church, Millwood, as vestryman, warden, lay reader and 



680 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

delegate to the annual councils of the church in Virginia. Mr. Nelson em- 
phatically approves of the Evangelical teachings of the church, and has no 
sympathy with Anti- Protestant proclivities. 

Charles W. Coontz, farmer, P. O. Millwood, son of Peter and Mary 
(Shugert) Coontz, was born in Frederick county, Va. , November 11, 1827. 
His father, it is thought, was also a native of Frederick county. The family 
record was burned during the war, which makes the genealogy of the family 
uncertain. Peter Coontz was twice married, first to Mary Zinn, by whom 
he had nine children — five sons and four daughters, Mary, the wife of 
Michael Copenhaver, of Millwood, being the only one living. The first wife 
died about 1855, after which he was married to Mary Shugert, widow of 
a Mr. Milton, and Capt. C. W. Coontz was their only child. The parents are 
both dead, the father dying in 1841, at the age of sixty years, and the 
mother about fourteen years later. He was both a carpenter and a farmer, 
each of which occupations he carried on successfully, and was kaown as one 
of the financially substantial citizens of Winchester. 

Capt. Coontz, the subject of this sketch, was married in 1850 to Louisa 
Krebs, of Winchester, and three children are the result of the union: 
Walter K. , Emma Virginia (wife of J. L. W. Baker) and J. Esther (wife of 
John Murphy, of Mount Jackson). Mr. Coontz learned the trade of a car- 
penter, which occupation he has followed mostly through life. In 1852 he 
engaged in the foundry business and the manufacture of agricultural im- 
plements, which he followed successfully till the war broke out, and during 
the disastrous struggle his foundry and dwelling house were both destroyed, 
with their contents, including their Bible, containing the family record. At 
the beginning of the war Mr. Coontz was appointed depot commissary by 
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, with the rank of captain in the Confederate serv- 
ice, which position he retained all through the war. Since the war he has 
been mostly engaged in agricultural pursuits. About twelve years since 
he moved to where he now resides, on a farm near Millwood, in Clarke 
county. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and is a 
gentleman highly respected. 

Maj. Alexander Baker, son of James and Nancy (Campbell) Baker, 
was born in Frederick county, Va. , now Clarke county. May 16, 1814. His 
grandfather Baker came from England and settled in what was afterward 
Frederick county, Va., at a very early date. His son James was born in 
Frederick county, and died there about 1824, at the age of sixty-foar years, 
the exact date not known, as the old Bible containing the genealogy of the 
family was lost while being sent to Missouri to one of the family. They had 
ten children, viz. : John, Samuel, William, James, Corbin, Alexander, Elizabeth 
(wife of Cyrus W. Murry), Nancy (wife of George Brown), Maria (wife of 
Thomas P. Ingram) and Sophia G. (wife of Buckner As^hby), all of whom are 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 681 

deceased but Alexander and Corbin, the latter living in Denver, Colo. Alexan- 
der Baker was married in 1837 to Caroline, daughter of James M. Hite, a 
nephew of President Madison. They had born to them ten children, only 
six of whom grew to maturity, viz. : Maria I. (wife of Dr. Thomas M. Lewis, 
of Westmoreland county, deceased), Nancy (wife of Thomas Deye Cocker, 
of Maryland), Lelia H., Alexander C. (deceased), Carrie M. (deceased), 
James Madison Hite, four died in infancy. During the late war Maj. 
Baker was a quartermaster in the Confederate army, with the rank of cap- 
tain, until he was promoted to major. The family have followed agricult- 
ural pursuits for several generations. They have also all been identified with 
the Episcopal Church. The Major is also a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, and the family say that his Masonic badge saved them from indignity 
during the war and secured for them kind treatment at the hands of 
their enemies. 

W. H. Travers is a native of Dorchester county, Md. His ancestors 
were among the early settlers of Virginia, and emigrated from the latter to 
the former state. He graduated from St. Mary's College in 1848, and then 
studied law in the office of Hon. J. Moi'rison Harris, in the city of Balti- 
more. This gentleman represented, in part, the state of Maryland in the 
congress of the United States for several terms. Mr. Travers was admitted 
to the bar in 1851, and practiced law in the city above named until 1861, 
the commencement of the Civil war. In 1855 he was elected a delegate to 
the legislature of Maryland, and at the commencement of the session (Jan- 
uary, 1856) was chosen speaker of that body. In 1858 he was a member 
of the board of directors of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, 
representing the city's interest in the stock of that company. He 
removed to JefPerson county (then Virginia, now West Virginia) in May, 
1861, and has resided ever since at Charlestown, the county seat of that 
county, and has been engaged since the war in the practice of his profession 
at that place. In 1872 he was elected, with Hon. Charles J. Faulkner, to 
represent the Eleventh Senatorial District of West Virginia in the constitu- 
tional convention that formed the present constitution of the state of West 
Virginia. He was appointed chairman of the committee on finance, educa- 
tion and corporation. In 1876, and again in 1888, he was chosen one of 
the presidential electors at large for the state, and as such cast his vote for 
Samuel J. Tilden and Grover Cleveland, respectively, for president of the 
United States. Mr. Travers has been intimately associated and identified 
with the Shenandoah Valley Railroad Company, having been a director 
since its organization in 1870, and its general counsel since 1876. 

A. Jackson Bageant, farmer, P. O. Whitacre, Frederick Co., Va., was 
born August 9, 1824, where he now lives, three miles north of Whitacre P. 
O. He is the son of William Bageant, who was born in Frederick county, 



682 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Md., in 1784, an intelligent man of considerable education and a good pen- 
man. The early part of his life was spent as a shoemaker with his father, 
but the greater part has been occupied as a farmer. He married Elizabeth, 
daughter of John Dick, of Frederick county, Va. , and their children were : 
John Washington, died in 1849; Mary Maria, born in 1820, now the widow of 
Michael Dolan, and Andrew Jackson, our subject. Mr. Bageant is a grand- 
son of John Bageant, Sr. , who was born in Old Fort Loudoun, at Win- 
chester, while his parents were there seeking refuge from an attack by the 
Indians. His occupation was that of a shoemaker throughout his life. He 
served bravely in the Revolutionary war, in the American army, mostly in 
South Carolina, and. was promoted to a captaincy. 

Mr. Bageant, the subject of this sketch, received but little education out- 
side of what was taught him by his father. In 1854 he married the widow 
of Henry Mauzey, daughter of Samuel Hook, of Hampshire county, Va. , and 
unto them were bora six children, viz. : David William ; Martha V. , died in 
1861; Henry J. ; Maria E., died young; Margery, now Mrs. Lemuel Bohrer, 
living on an adjoining farm, and Amanda A. Mr. Bageant received 100 acres 
of land by heritage, but has since added 500 acres thereto by his own labor 
and management. He served three months in the Confederate army, but was 
discharged on account of ill health. He is a member of the Baptist church, 
also of the Granger's society. Politically he votes for the best man, regard- 
less of party. Grandfather John Bageant moved and settled in Virginia? 
in the year 1808, in the woods, and the father settled where subject lives, 
in 1814, in the woods. 

James V. Weik, deceased, was born in Essex county, Va., February 3, 
1799, and was married June 21, 1838, to Ann Taylor Ship, and had a fam- 
ily of children born to him, as follows: Emma B. , James Robert, John 
Elliott, William Brockenbrough, Lucy Elliott, Virginia T. , Mildred Ship, 
Martha Waller, Sarah Elizabeth, Caroline Hunton and Richard Eugene. 
The deceased moved to this county in 1839, and settled at the place known 
as " Sagitarius. " His father, Robert Marye Weir, was born in Essex 
county ia 1778, and died in 1844. He married Clara, daughter of John 
and Emily (Waller) Smith, who died January 31, 1879, aged seventy-nine 
years. 

James V. Weir was a farmer, and when the Civil war broke out he 
entered the Confederate service, where he remained for some time. He was 
a democrat and an Episcopalian. Richard Eugene and W. B. , with their 
four sisters, occupy the old homestead. Richard Eugene married Fanny, 
daughter of Edward White Massey, October 12, 1889. 

The mother of the wife of our subject, James V. Weir, was a Fitzhugh, 
and married James Ship, who represented Frederick county in the general 
assembly four terms. He had three daughters, Mildred, Charlotte and 
Ann Taylor. The latter, as stated above, married James V. in 1838. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 683 

Capt. a. M. Earle, farmer, Milldale, was boru December 12, 1819, in 
Frederick county, Va. , northwest of Winchester. He is descended from 
the Earle family, an old one, supposed to have immigrated to this country 
from England at an early date. The ancestry of the family has been 
traced back with positive proof to the time of King Charles I. , in which 
times the family were known to be devoted royalists. 

Capt. Earle' s family is the only known branch of the old house in Vir- 
ginia, though there are still some descendants in Georgia and South Caro- 
lina. The father of Capt. Earle was John B. Earle, also born in that 
portion of Frederick county that is now Warren county, in 1787, and died 
in 1860, and his grandfather, Esias Earle, was probably born in the same 
section, but when, it is not known; he died in 1826. Samuel Earle, the 
father of Esias, came from lower Virginia to the Valley at an early day. 
He represented Frederick county several times in the house of burgesses, 
and his grandson, John B. , also represented the same county in the house 
of delegates. Esias had a family of six daughters and three sons, John 
B. being the eldest son, who married, in 1818, Maria B. Miller, daughter of 
Alexander Miller, of Apple Pie Ridge, Frederick Co., Va. The children of 
John B. were: Alexander M. , born in 1819; Archibald B. , born in 1821; 
Baylis, born in 1834, dying in 1867; Sarah J., born in 1823, married Hiram 
Evans; Mary L., born in 1824, married John Burns and moved to Missouri 
in 1854, he dying in 1861 and she in 1887, leaving one son and two daugh- 
ters; Amelia P., born in October, 1825, married Seth Mason, of Frederick 
county, and moved to Missouri in 1854, where she still lives; Susan M. , 
born in 1828, married James Glen of JefPerson county, W. Va. , where she 
still lives; Ann C, born in 1829, still living; Martha, born in 1833, still living. 

Capt. Earle was educated at Cannonsburg College, Pennsylvania, graduat- 
ing from that institution in 1839. Returning from college he remained in 
Clarke county till 1860, when his father dying, he purchased the homestead 
from the other heirs and has resided there since. At the commencement of 
the war he entered the Confederate army, serving in the ranks nearly two 
years, when he was made quartermaster of the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry, 
with, the rank of captain, where he remained till the close of the great 
struggle. In 1867 Capt. Earle married Mary Ellen Burns, daughter of 
W. C. Burns, of Lafayette county, Mo. He has had five children born to 
him: John B., A. M. Jr., Paul B., Virginia M. and Elizabeth K. 

In 1851 Mr. Earle was elected a justice of the peace, and he served 
continuously for twenty five or thirty years. In 1859 he was elected to the 
legislature of the state, and in 1881 he represented jointly the counties of 
Clarke and Warren. He is a democrat, and the family attend the Presby- 
terian Church. The homestead of Capt. Earle, Mount Zion, was so named 
by Rev. Charles Mynn Thruston, some time before the American Revolu- 



684 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

tion. This clergyman was one of the famous " fighting parsons," and be- 
came a colonel in the Continental army, of whom mention has been made 
elsewhere in this work. The house was built about 1780, and the mill 
several years before. The latter is still operated. The tract consists of 
573 acres, and is beautifully located near the Clarke and Warren line. 

John F. Sowers, farmer, Stone Bridge, was born April 23, 1840, at 
" Lakeville," the old homestead of his father, John W. Sowers, who was born 
in 1813, at Greenway, Clarke county, and whose father was James Sowers. 
At an early day, supposed to be 1730 or 1740, Jacob Sowers came from 
Germany, and settled near the run, at what afterward became Winchester, 
when it had but fhree houses, or rather cabins. He had three sons: Daniel, 
who settled near the old Salem Church, near where the line of Frederick 
and Clarke counties now is, about 1750, who had a son, James, born in 
1775, who married, in 1799, Elizabeth Kerfoot, and who had seven chil- 
dren, the youngest of whom was John W., the father of John F., the sub- 
ject of this sketch. John W. was married, January 29, 1833, to Mary Emily, 
daughter of William and Matilda (Johnson) Mitchel, of Warren county, Va. 
Their children were: Francis Ann, wife of J. G. Kerfoot; James W. , born 
in 1834, died in 1861, married Mary Kerfoot; George F., born in 1837, and 
died in 1854; Betsey, born in 1840, and died in 1851; Martha V., born in 
1843, wife of George H. Sowers; J. F., born in 1846; H. W., born in 1855, 
and Alice M , wife of Dr. C. D. Laws. John F. , whose name heads this 
sketch, was educated at the Military Institute, Lexington, Va. , and was one 
of the gallant band of cadets that marched from their desks at school to 
defend the beautiful Shenandoah Valley against the invading army, and which 
campaign culminated in the battle of New Market, in 1864. He married Mary 
Thomson, daughter of J. H. and Virginia (Baker) Thomson, of Winchester, 
Va. , and one child, John Thomson Sowers, has blessed their union. Mr. 
Sowers purchased the property known as "Federal Hill," long held by the 
Baker family. 

John Whelan Luke, farmer, Berry ville, was born March 7, 1815, nearBer- 
ryville, son of Jacob Luke, who was born about two miles west of Berryville, 
on the Winchester turnpike, and died in 1838 at the age of sixty-five years. 
He was occupied, during his life, as a farmer, owning a farm of 123 acres, 
which he received by heritage from his father. He served in the war of 
1812. He married Sarah Clayton, daughter of William and Sarah (Whelan) 
Clayton; she was born in Lancaster county, Penn. William Clayton was a 
member of the Society of Friends. The Whelan family is still represented 
in Lancaster and Philadelphia counties, Penn., and are mostly wealthy 
people. The children to this marriage were Catherine, died in 1889, aged 
eighty-three, widow of Jacob Enders; Elizabeth (deceased), was Mrs. Niel 
Barnett; Emily, born in 1812, was Mrs. John Greenlee (deceased); John 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 685 

Whelan, subject; Susan, now Mrs. Armstead Mason Moore, of Berryville. 
William Clayton was born in 1820, and died in 1835. 

Our subject is grandson of Peter Luke, who died in 1816, at the age 
of about eighty. He was born and spent his early life in Lancaster county, 
Penu. He came to Virginia and married Catherine Keizer, of Frederick 
county. He was a farmer, and served during the Revolutionary war as a 
quartermaster at Washington's headquarters, having charge of the head- 
quarter teams. He acquired considerable land in what was then Frederick 
county, all of which he sold, taking continental money in payment, in which 
he had great faith at the time. At his death he owned the farm on which 
our subject was born. He lived in the old home until fourteen years of 
age, when he was engaged in the store of Niel Barnett and John M. 
Blackmore, of Berryville, for three years. He then clerked for Joseph F. 
Stephenson, in the same place, and in two years became a partner. In 1837 
they moved their store to Clark county, Mo. , and after four years he sold his 
interest to Stephenson, and returned to Snickersville, Loudoun Co., Va., 
and again engaged in merchandising with A. M. Moore for live years. In 
1846 he married Lucy C. Blackmore (who died in 1850), daughter of 
Marcus and Rebecca (Chandler) Blackmore, of Clarke county; one child, 
Marcus B. , was born, bitt died, aged fifteen. In 1852 he married Ann 
Louisa Grantham, a daughter of James and Phoebe (Larue) Grantham, of 
JeflFerson county. Their children are James W., teller in a bank at Berry- 
ville; Sarah Cornelia, now Mrs. J. Few Brown, ijf Winchester; John Larue, 
dentist; Samuel G., farming; Anna Clayton; Edwin Clifford, of New York 
City; Bessie and Pattie Lucille. After his first marriage he purchased the 
farm on which he now lives and has been engaged as a farmer since that time. 
In 1851 be was elected to the house of delegates of Virginia, and served 
one term. Is now serving and has served as school trustee for a number of 
years. He did not serve in the late war (was too old), but lost heavily during 
the struggle; is a member of the Presbyterian church, and a democrat. 

Charles O. Lambert, mayor, Martinsburg, W. Va. , was born in Freder- 
ick City, Md. , in 1838, and is the son of Frederick and Catherine Lambert, 
of Maryland. He was educated in the public schools of his native city, 
and at the age of fifteen years commenced to learn the butchering business 
with Chas. D. Schell, with whom he remained until he acquired a thorough 
knowledge of that trade. In 1857 he went to Shepherdstown, Va., and en- 
gaged in business for himself, and in 1865 he came to Martinsburg and be- 
came a partner of his bi'other, George D. Lambert, in the butchering busi- 
ness, remaining thus together until 1867, when he again set up for himself, 
adding to his stock a grocery and provision store, which he still continues in 
this city. He was elected councilman in 1878, and has served three terms 
of two years each, five and one-half years of which time he has served as 



686 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

mayor pro tern. In 1884 he was elected mayor, hy a good majority, and his 
services were so well appreciated that in 1886, and again in 1888, the people 
demanded his re-election, which was successfully accomplished. That his 
services as mayor are appreciated by the people in general is well attested 
by his long continuance in the office. He is a democrat in politics, a genial, 
clever gentleman, and emphatically a self-made man. In addition to his 
other business he is in a small way interested in agricultural pursuits. Mayor 
Lambert was twice married, first, in 1860, to Margaret E. Freeze, of Shep- 
herdstown, Jefferson Co. , W. Va. , and by this union there were four children, 
viz. : Benjamin, Charles, Samuel and John, the latter deceased. Mrs. 
Lambert died December 11, 1874, at the age of thirty-two years. His sec- 
ond marriage occurred May 16, 1876, to Mary V. Hunter, daughter of David 
and Margaret Hunter, of Jefferson county, W. Va. , and by this marriage 
there were three children: Edgar H. , Walter B. and Margaret, the latter 
dying in infancy. 

The Wever Family. Caspar Von Weber was born in Nuremburg, 
Bavaria, Germany, in the seventeenth century, and graduated at the Univer- 
sity of Heidelberg. He was afterward a body-guard to King Leopold I. 
of Germany. He came to this country in 1720, and settled near Harrisburg, 
Penn. There the name was called Wever, and there he died, leaving a widow 
and four children, who came to Virginia in 1780, and settled near Leetown, 
Berkeley county, afterward divided and called Jefferson.. 

Adam Wever, the oldest son of Caspar Von Weber, married an English* 
lady, a Miss Willis, of Philadelphia, Penn., and they had three children : one 
son, Caspar Willis Wever, married in ]812, Jane Catherine Dunlop, a 
daughter of Andrew Dunlop, a lawyer of Chambersburg, Penn., and had nine 
children. He was one of the first civil engineers of the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railroad, and he settled three miles below Harper's Ferry, and the place 
was afterward called Weverton, in honor of his name. Catherine Wever, 
the second child of Adam Wever, married Major Irwin, of Harrisburg, Penn. ; 
they had no children. Elizabeth Emeline Wever, the third child of Adam 
Wever, married Judge L. W. Balch. 

Jacob Wever, the second son of Caspar Von Weber, married, in 1787, a 
daughter of Gen. Stake, of York, Penn., and settled near Martinsburg, Berke- 
ley Co. , Va. They had six children — four sons and two daughters. 

Caspar Wever, born in 1791, and died in 1879, the third son of Jacob 
Wever, was the only one of the six children who married, his wife being 
Hannah Cromwell Orrick, of Virginia. She was born in 1788 and died in 
1843. Nicholas Orrick, of Baltimore, Md., grandfather of Hannah Crom- 
well Orrick Wever, married Hannah Cromwell of the same county. She 
was a direct descendant of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, through his son 
Henry. In 1776 the family moved to Virginia, and settled near Martins- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 687 

burg, Berkeley county. There were five daughters and three sons: John, 
Nicholas and Charles. John remained in Baltimore county, Md. , and his 
eldest son was a member of the Maryland legislature for a number of years. 
Nicholas, the second son, lived at Berkeley Springs, now in Morgan county. 
His partner in business was James Rumsey, inventor of the steamboat, and 
Nicholas made with him the trial trip in his first steamboat. Charles, the 
third son, and father of Hannah Cromwell Orrick Wever, married Catherine 
Davenport. They had fifteen children, and of this number two only are 
living: James C. Orrick, of Cumberland, Md., and Alex. Orrick, of Missouri. 
The former married Miss Pendleton, of Virginia, and has two sons living: 
one, William P. Orrick, is an Episcopal minister of Reading, Penn. , and the 
other one, C. J. Orrick, of Cumberland, Md. The latter married Miss Brent, 
of Missouri, and now lives in St. Louis. Theodore Wever, the oldest son of 
Caspar and Hannah C. Wever, was born in 1826 and died in 1836, at the 
age of ten years. Charles Jacob Wever, second son of Caspar Wever, was 
born in 1837, and married, in 1870, Frances B. Snodgrass, a daughter of Col. 
R. Ve. Dere Snodgrass, of Virginia. He died in 1878, leaving a widow and 
five children : Lenore R. , Hannah Orrick, Caspar, Charles Jacob and George 
Lowry, all of whom are now living near Martinsburg, W. Va. George 
Lowry Wever, third son of Caspar Wever, was born in 1839. In the late 
Civil war, under the command of Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, he was wounded, and 
died near Richmond, Va. , in 1862. Catherine Davenport Wever, fourth 
child of Caspar Wever, was born in 1831, and married, in 1849, Dr. Edwin 
G. Buckles. Dr. Edwin G. Buckles was born February 12, 1818, in Jeffer- 
son county, Va. He graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, in 
Philadelphia, in 1845. In 1846 he settled in Hedgesville, Berkeley 
Co., Va. , and practiced his profession until 1876, when declining health 
compelled him to remove to the country for rest. He died in 1878, 
leaving a widow (no children) who now resides in Martinsburg, Berkeley 
Co., W. Va. William Buckles, his grandfather, was born in Jefferson 
county, Va. , and married Miss Beall, of Georgetown, D. C. They had three 
children — two sons and one daughter. Daniel Buckles, son of William 
Buckles, the father of the aforesaid Dr. E. G. Buckles, was born in 1774, and 
married, 1799, Hannah Chipley, a daughter of an Englishman. They lived 
near Shepherdstown, Va. , on the farm where he was born. They had ten 
children, two only of whom are living: Mrs. Marshall, of Paducah, Ky. , 
and Mrs. Virginia Moulder, of Alexandria, Va. 

The Lemen Family. This is one of the oldest families of the Valley, 
there being one of them, John Lemen, in the merchandising business in 
Frederick county, or that portion of it now known as Berkeley and Jeffer- 
son, as early as 1754, as shown by the records of Frederick county. They 
have always been an enterprising business family, some of the members of 



688 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

which have been leading citizens, either as merchants, millers, farmers or 
fruit raisers. They have mostly lived in the lower valley, or rather the 
northern portion of Berkeley and JefPerson. Willoughby N. Lemen, the 
father of Mr. W. N. Lemen, of Shepherdstown, was born in 1805, and his wife 
was Esther Billmyer, born in 1800. There were six children born to them. 
Martin B. Lemen, the eldest, was born in 1832, and his wife was Mary C. 
Chambers. Their children were ten in number. Charles C. and Thomas 
T. , forming the firm of Lemen Brothers, of Martinsburg, are respectively the 
second and fourth children. The others are residents mostly of Jefferson 
county. Martin B., William T. and W. N. are the only sons of Willoughby 
N. now living. William T. lives near Shepherdstown, and is a farmer by 
occupation; Martin B. is a farmer of Jefferson. W. N. Lemen, mentioned 
above, is in the grain commission business, and is secretary of the Morgan's 
Grove Agricultural Association. Thomas T. married, in 1886, Nannie M. 
Hedges, but his brother Charles is still single. The Lemens have usually 
been Presbyterians in religion, and democratic in politics. 

Rear Admiral Charles Boarman (deceased), son of Charles and Mary 
(Edelen) Boarman, was born in Charles county, Md., December 24, 1795, 
and died in Martinsburg, W. Va. , September 13, 1879, in his eighty -fourth 
year. He entered Georgetown College, where his father had been a profes- 
sor since 1797. He received his appointment to the navy June 9, 1811, at 
the age of sixteen years, being ordered to attend the naval school at Wash- 
ington as an appointee from the District of Columbia. In a short time he 
was sent to the sloop Erie at Baltimore, Md., and as midshipman he served 
aboard the brig Jefferson on Lake Ontario during the war of 1812, thus 
rendering his country able service when only sixteen years of age. He was 
commissioned lieutenant March 5, 1817, while in the Mediterranean service. 
After sailing with the West India squadron, on his return to Washington, 
he was stationed at the navy yard there. His first command was the sloop 
Weazel during the years 1827 and 1828. He was transferred in 1828 to 
the frigate Java, then flagship of the Mediterranean squadron. In 1830 
he served as executive officer of the flagship Hudson of the Brazil 
squadron, was commander of the sloop Vandalia and also the schooner 
Grampus of the West India squadron. On February 9, 1837, he was 
confirmed commander, and in 1840 had charge of the United States sloop 
Fairfield, of the Brazilian coast. He received his captain's commission 
March 29, 1844; from 1847 to 1850, on a three years' cruise, he com- 
manded the frigate Brandywine, flagship of the Brazil squadron. From 
1852 to 1855 he was in command of the navy yard and stationed at 
Brooklyn, and while at this important point, he superintended the fitting 
out of the Japan expedition, which was attended with such fruitful results. 
From 1861 to 1865 he was detained on special duty, his rare executive ca- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 689 

pacities peculiarly fitting him for such service. In July, 1862, he received 
his commission as commodore, and was retired as rear-admiral in such hon- 
orable company as Commodore Stewart on the 13th of August, 1876, in ac- 
cordance with the act of 1855. Although a large slave-holder at the break- 
ing out of the Civil war, he remained faithfiil to his government that had so 
honored him in her service. He was nearly three-score and ten years in 
the service of his country, and yet in private life he was ever most faithful 
to the duties of husband, father and friend. He was a citizen of Martins- 
burg over fifty years, and was known as a consistent Christian and a faith- 
ful member of the Catholic Church. He was married, March 21, 1820, to 
Mary Ann, daughter of John and Sarah Abell. Of their thirteen children, 
seven are living, viz. : John A. ; Joseph B. ; Frank C. ; Eliza, widow of 
Hon. Thomas Brown; Susan M. , widow of Jeremiah Harris; Mary J., 
widow of W. H. Broome, for many years in the custom house of New York; 
two unmarried — Anna and Nora. Mrs. Commodore Boarman was married 
when sixteen years of age and died in her seventy- second year, September 
26, 1875, at her home in Martinsburg. She had lived a peaceful and 
happy life with her partner for fifty-six years, and one, writing of her de- 
mise, has said: "In her death we lose one of our most charitable citizens; 
she will be missed by very many of the poor of Martinsburg; she was al- 
ways seeking the sick and administering to their wants. She was truly an 
angel of mercy and charity and a strict and consistent member of the 
church. ' ' 

W. H. H. Flick, lawyer and postmaster, Martinsburg, appointed in 
January, 1890, was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, February 24, 1841. 
His father was Jacob Flick, born in Pennsylvania, and his mother was born 
in Cuyahoga county, Ohio. The father is living, but the mother died in 
1887. The grandfather of Mr. Flick was also named Jacob Flick, and was 
born in Crab Bottom, Va. ; his grandmother was a native of New Jersey. 
His maternal grandfather and grandmother were born, respectively, in Con- 
necticut and Vermont. 

Mr. Flick, the subject of this sketch, was raised in Cuyahoga county, on 
t he farm of his father, and passed his life much as the ordinary country boy, 
receiving his education at the common schools, with a term of attendance in 
his late boyhood at Hiram College, in Portage county , Ohio, the school so well 
known as the ahna mater of President Garfield. In July, 1861, he entered 
the Federal army, and at the battle of Shiloh was very badly wounded, 
from the eflPects of which his left arm is partially disabled. He studied law 
in Cleveland, Ohio, with William T. Kemish, Esq., and was admitted to 
practice in 1865. He came to Morsefield in the winter of 1866, but removed 
to Franklin, Pendletoh county, W. Va., in 1867. In this county (Pendleton) 
he served as prosecuting attorney for several years. He also represented 



690 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Pendleton county in the legislature of West Virginia two terms, and during 
the last term introduced the amendments to the constitution restoring the 
franchise to those who had been disqualified by their connection with the 
Confederacy, which amendment was adopted, thereby showing his liberality 
toward the Confederate soldiers. He served for a time as prosecuting at- 
torney for Grant county, W. Va. He came to Martinsburg on July 5, 1874, 
and immediately entered into a lucrative practice in his professio*n. He was 
prosecuting attorney for Berkeley county from 1880 to 1882, when he re- 
signed to accept the appointment of district attorney. Mr. Flick met with 
an affliction in 1888 which disabled him from active duties, but at present 
(1890) he has almost entirely recovered. He is a lawyer of marked ability 
and force, and has usually been retained upon one side or the other of most 
cases before the courts of Berkeley county. He was married in January, 
1865, to Miss Lucretia Clarke, of Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and has one child, 
a daughter, Miss Lorena Flick. He is a stanch republican. In 1876, and 
again in 1884, he was the republican candidate for judge of the supreme 
court of appeals. In 1886 he was the republican candidate for congress 
in the Second Congressional District, made an active canvass, but was 
beaten by a majority of less than 100, by Hon. William L. Wilson. In 1888 
he was renominated against his old competitor; was unable to make an act- 
ive canvass, and was again beaten by a small majority. 

Capt. E. G. Alburtis was born in Berkeley county, W. Va., July 6, 
1817, and died March 21, 1875. He was married, December 20, 1842, to 
Mary C Swartz, and eight children were born to them — seven girls and 
one boy — one of whom, a girl, is dead. Capt. Alburtis entered the business 
of his father, and took charge of the Virginia Republican in 1841, continu- 
ing in the same until the Mexican war, which he entered as a captain and 
served gallantly. After his return from the Mexican war, he was elected 
clerk of the county court of Berkeley county, which position he held until 
the breaking out of the Civil war. Capt. Alburtis' company, the Wise 
Artillery, was at the John Brown capture, and on the opening of hostilities 
the company went into service immediately, and were engaged in the strug- 
gle until the close. After the surrender, Capt. Alburtis began the publica- 
tion of the Valley Star at Martinsburg, but gave it up in consequence of 
ill health, and died, as above stated, in 1875. Capt. Alburtis was the son 
of John Alburtis, a newspaper man during the early part of the century. 
John was born May 14, 1779. He married Nancy Vanmeter, who was born 
June 29, 1794. Nancy was the grand -daughter of the first Vanmeter who 
came to this section, about 1730, and a son of this first Vanmeter is said to 
have been the first white male child born in the Valley. 

Dk. E. B. Hamill, deceased, was born in Shippensburg, Penn. , in March, 
1827, the youngest son of William and Kebecca (Ashman) Hamill, of Penn- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY, 691 

sylvania. Dr. Hamill received his first schooling in his native county, 
afterward taking a course at Gettysburg College. He came with his father 
to Berkeley county about 1842, his father having purchased a fai^m near 
what is now known as Bedington. At a very early age he exhibited a fond- 
ness for athletic sports, which resulted in the development of a physique 
that was recognized as rarely excelled. About the year 1845 he went to 
Vicksburg, Miss. , and was engaged, in connection with a New York house, 
in a business enterprise that resulted quite favorably to all parties. After 
remaining in Vicksburg for some time he returned to Berkeley county, 
whence he went to Baltimore, and entered the office of Dr. Chapin A. Harris, 
the father of dental surgery in America, and the founder of the Baltimore 
Dental College, the first institution of the kind, not only in the United States, 
but in the world. After his course with Dr. Harris, he returned to Berkeley 
county, whence he moved to Mercersburg, Penn. , where he remained ten 
years. During his course in Baltimore, he gave to the profession several 
important inventions in mechanical dentistry, which are used to this day. 
From Mercersburg, where he was married to Miss Irene Hughs, of Williams- 
port, Md. , he removed to Greencastle, Penn. Two daughters were the result 
of this first union. She dying. Dr. Hamill married, in 1859, Miss M. C. 
Hooper, of Mercersburg, and two children were the result of this marriage: 
Dr. George Ashman Hamill and Isabelle Hamill. From Greencastle, where 
he remained five years, he removed to Illinois, and from there to Hagers- 
town, Md. , where he remained two years; thence to Martinsburg, where he 
died May 22, 1882. His son, Dr. Ashman Hamill, who was born in Green- 
castle, Penn., in 18(50, succeeded his father in the practice of dentistry in 
Martinsburg, where he still resides. 

James Cadwallader, farmer, P. O. Stephens City, Frederick Co. , Va. , was 
born in 1842, at Kernstown, Frederick county, son of Ezra Cadwallader, who 
was born near Bartonsville, same county, and his early life was spent at Kerns- 
town, where he married Maria, daughter of Daniel McGorian, of Kernstown. 
He was an intelligent, well-read man, always keeping well informed as to the 
political state of his country. Ezra was the son of Jehu Cadwallader, who 
was the son of one of seven brothers who emigrated from Wales, in the 
early times, and settled in Pennsylvania; it being the boast of some of the 
old stock that they could trace their genealogy back to the old Welch kings. 
Ezra was the father of ten children, of whom only four are living, viz. : Annie 
Bell (now Mrs. John Gregory), James Marcial (our subject, who was the 
third child), George W. and Ella M. Mr. Cadwallader is a grandson of 
Jehu Cadwallader, and has followed farming all his life, except the four 
years spent in Civil war. He volunteered his services when the war broke 
out, being not much more than a boy, and served during the four years, 
being in some pretty tight places — was captured twice, first time in 1862, 



692 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

when be was seat to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he spent eight months and 
was then exchanged, when he again re-entered the service and was again 
captured and sent to Point Lookout, Md., where was held until the sur- 
render at Appomattox. In 1870 he married Cornelia, daughter of Isaac 
and Rachael Baker, of Stephens City, Va. , formerly called Newtown; 
children were Floyd B. , Charles W., John E. , George W., James Milton 
and Harrie Lee. His wife died in 1886. He owns a farm of 115 acres, 
two and one-half miles from Stephens City, which came to him from his 
wife. He is a fairly successful farmer, and has improved his farm 
largely by remodeling his home. He has also had the care of his six 
boys since his wife's death, she having left him an infant one year old. He is 
a member of the Lutheran Church; a stanch, good citizen, and politically a 
democrat, although his father was one of the old Henry Clay whigs and 
remained a strong Union man during the great struggle between the North 
and South. 

P. Senseny Weight, deceased, was born in Middletown, March 21, 1834, 
and died February 16, 1885. He was a son of George Wright, who was 
born at Dunnington, near York, England, September 11, 1792, and sailed 
from Liverpool April 22, 1819, arriving at Alexandria, Va., in June of the 
same year. He came to Middletown, where he engaged in the manufacture 
of the first threshing machines used in that section. He married, October 
17, 1820, Catherine, daughter of Dr. Senseny, a man of wealth, and founder 
of Middletown, and a highly respected citizen. Mr. George Wright died 
February 28, 1859. P. Senseny Wright graduated at Dickinson College, 
Penn., in 1859, after which he established a nursery for fruit and orna- 
mental trees at Middletown, which he kept up during his lifetime. In this 
he was successful, so far as he extended it, owning about 150 acres of valu- 
able land. He was a student of botany, of which he was especially fond, 
equaling the average. He was respected by his neighbors and acquaint- 
ances, an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and 
took great interest in the Sunday-school work. In 1885 he married Maud, 
his cousin, daughter of John and Sarah (Kercheval) Wright. John Wright, 
her father, was born near York, England, and came to this country in 1827 
and engaged in farming. Sarah Kercheval, her mother, is a daughter of 
Samuel Kercheval, who died November 17, 1845, and married Susan Chinn, 
who was born in 1771, and died in 1842. To the marriage of Senseny and 
Maud Wright one child only was born, Mary Sidney Ethel. 

Wm. a. Davis, M. D., Winchester. This gentleman was born in the 
city of New York, January 17, 1819, and is lineally descended from William 
Davis, who was born in Wales in 1617, came to Roxbury, in the colony of 
Massachusetts Bay, about 1635, and died there in 1683. Dr. Davis, the 
subject of this sketch, was educated in the Boston Latin School, and entered 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 693 

Harvard College in 1833, graduating from that institution with the degree 
of Artium Baccalaureus in 1837, and with the degrees of Artium Magister 
and MedicinBe Doctor in 1840. He removed to Frederick county, Va. , in 
1852, and is now a resident of Winchester, Va. 

Joseph A. Miller, farmer, Nineveh, Warren Co., Va. , was born in 
1829, two and a half miles west of Stephens City, son of Thomas Miller, 
who was born in 1801 and died in January, 1889, at same place, having 
followed the occupation of a farmer. In 1828 he married Cassandra Mc- 
Kay, daughter of Jacob and Mary M. (Haines) McKay, of Warren county, 
on Crooked Run, and their children are Robert, Thomas, Dudley, Mary 
(died young) and the subject of this sketch. He was a ^iery successful 
farmer, and took care of what he acquired, but lost heavily during the war. 
He and wife were members of the Presbyterian Church. 

Joseph A. is a grandson of Joseph Miller, and lived with his parents 
till twenty-seven years of age, receiving a good business education; he then 
went to Delaware county, Iowa, forty miles west of Dubuque, and bought a 
farm and went into the grazing business, which he followed for twenty 
years. In 1861 he married Mary McKay Spangler, of Winchester, daugh- 
ter of Solomon and Lucy M. (Tanquary) Spangler, and their children were 
Lucy (Mrs. Richard Thorpe), Virginia (Mrs. Scott Jett), Attie, Robert, 
Mabel, Laura, Shirley, Thomas, and Joseph (who died aged two years). In 
1875 he returned to Frederick county and bought the farm upon which he 
now lives, known as Wheatland, located ten miles south of Winchester, on 
the Front Royal pike, containing 635 acres of good land, partly in Clarke 
county. His residence is nicely located, and affords a splendid view of the 
surrounding country. Mr. Miller is an industrious and prosperous gentle- 
man and a highly respected citizen. He is now serving his second term as 
supervisor of Frederick county. Politically he is a democrat. His ances- 
tors came from Strasburg, Germany. Two brothers, Anthony and Phillip, 
came over to this country and settled at York, Penn. , but in 1733 moved to 
a place in Virginia which they named Strasburg. They obtained a grant 
of several thousand acres of land from the king of England. His wife's 
ancestors are traced directly back to Thomas Tancrede, of Arden, Yorkshire, 
England, who lived during "the reign of Henry III. During the war of 
Roses the name was changed to Tanquary (though not generally used until 
later). The next in succession was Thomas Tanquary, of Burrows Ridge, 
who was created a baron in 1662. He married a daughter of Bernard Paver, 
Esq. , of Brampton, Eng. Soon after they moved to this country and settled 
on the eastern shore of Maryland, where many of their descendants still 
neside, some having settled in Virginia and Ohio. 

Ambrose Timberlake, woolen manufacturer, P. O. Middletown. Few 
men of his age engaged in a manufacturing enterprise have been more sue- 



694 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

cessful than the subject of this sketch. He was born in Jefferson county, 
W. Va., being left an orphan when quite young by the death of his mother, 
and was practically reared by an aunt in Hardy county. He is a son of 
A-inbrose C. Timberlake, also of Jefferson county, and a merchant of that 
county. After the close of the war he engaged in woolen manufacturing. 
This family is of English descent, and the mother, Elizabeth McMechen, of 
Scotch and Irish ancestry. 

Ambrose Timberlake, Jr., was educated at Jefferson Academy, and com- 
menced life as a clerk in a mercantile establishment. He is now one of the 
proprietors of the Valley Woolen Mills, situated two and one- half miles 
from Middletown, Va. , on Cedar creek, and fourteen miles from the city of 
Winchester. The mill was founded in 1844, by Thomas P. Matthews, who 
continued as proprietor up to the purchase of his interest by Mr. Timber- 
lake and his brother-in-law Thomas Maslin, deceased. In 1875 these 
gentlemen purchased the property, then in an unpromising condition, and 
now it is fitted with the latest improved and most expensive machinery. 
The main building is a one-story stone structure 206x41 feet, and the 
machinery is propelled by a thirty-five-horse power turbine water wheel. 
Three hvindred and fifty yards of cloth are made per day. Mr. Timberlake 
sustained a serious loss in the death of his partner and brother-in-law, 
Thomas Maslin. He now superintends all the business, his sister, Mrs. 
Maslin, having an interest in the business. He was married in 1882 to 
Carrie, daughter of David J. Miller, deceased, of Middletown. Mr. Tim- 
berlake is a leading man in all business projects, an elder in the Presby- 
terian Church, and a democrat. 

Dr. G. W. Larrick, Middletown, Frederick Co. , Va. , was born about two 
miles northeast of where he now lives, September 7, 1852. He is the oldest 
child of Jacob B. Larrick, lately deceased, a sketch of whose life appears in 
this work. His mother is the daughter of the late George B. Scaggs, of Mont- 
go mt^ry county, Md. When about seventeen years of age he began teaching 
a private school, and after the organization of the public schools, he taught 
in them until his health failed. It was during the period of his bad health 
that he went to read medicine with the late Dr. William Somerville, of 
Clarke county, who died in a few months from that time, and Dr. H. C. 
Somerville then became his preceptor. He entered the University of Mary- 
land in 1876, and was graduated in the spring of 1878. In the same year 
he went to Tom's Brook, Shenandoah Co., Va., and soon became established 
in a good practice. But in the fall of 1879, being invited to enter into a 
partnership with his old family physician, the late Dr. J. S. Guyer, he re- 
moved to Middletown, and has since continued to practice in the community 
in which he was reared. He has acquired an extensive practice, and won 
for himself a good reputation, being at this time one of the leading physi- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 695 

ciaas of this section. He is kind and gentle in manner, at the same time 
firm and unyielding in principle. He is a consistent member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church South. His hand and heart are ever ready to assist 
in any enterprise which has for its end the good of his fellow-men. He is 
one of the most prominent business men of this community, and is untiring 
in his efforts to develop the resources of his state, thereby expending a 
great deal of time and energy. 

Dk. Thomas M. Miller, physician, Stephens City, son of Thomas C. 
Miller, was born in Frederick county in 1834. Thomas C. was married to 
Miss McKay, daughter of John McKay, of Warren county, and to them 
were born four sons and one daughter. The sons were Joseph, Robert, 
Thomas and D. L. The daughter is deceased. Thomas C. was a farmer, 
and quite successful in that occupation. He suffered heavy losses during 
the war, being a large slave-holder. He died January 4, 1889, at the age of 
eighty-seven years. His wife died February 8, 1879, aged seventy years. 
Dr. Thomas Miller attended, in addition to the schools of the county, the 
University of Virginia, and Delaware College, and graduated from Jefferson 
Medical College in 1857, since which time he has practiced his profession 
in this Valley. He was joined in marriage to Margaret C, daughter of 
Francis A. Davis. Dr. Miller is rather a retired physician, but still prac- 
tices occasionally for the accommodation of some of his friends. He has 
been an elder in the Presbyterian Church since twenty-one years of age, and 
an active democrat and a thorough-working temperance man since seven- 
teen years of age, being at present chairman of the State Local Option So- 
ciety of the Seventh Congressional District. 

John W. Wbight, deceased, on his paternal side was of English descent. 
His father, George Wright, was a prominent merchant, and came to 
America when a young man. He was wedded to Catherine, daughter of Dr. 
Senseny, originally of York, Penn. , but at that time a prominent citizen 
and physician of Winchester, Va. Dr. Senseny was the founder of Mid- 
dletown, Va. , and laid out that town. John W. Wright was joined in mar- 
riage, in 1855, to Anna, daughter of Isaac F. and Maria Louisa (Davison) 
Hite. Isaac Hite is a member of the old Hite family, whose history ap- 
pears elsewhere in this book. To Mr. and Mrs. Wright were born two 
children: Maria Louisa (Mrs. Cooley) and George B. Mr. Wright was for 
thirty years a prominent and energetic merchant of Middletown. Mrs. 
Wright now resides on the beautiful plantation owned by her grandfather, 
Isaac Hite, who built the famous old mansion. Her son, George, and son- 
in-law, Mr. Cooley, now superintend the work of the farm. The family are 
members of the Methodist Church, and democratic in politics. 

Dr. John S. Guyer, deceased, was born in Yorkshire, England, August 
4, 1817, and came to America with his mother in 1829, landing at Alexan- 



696 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

dria, his father, who had been engaged in mercantile pursuits, having died 
some time previous. His mother was a sister of the late John Bell, of War- 
ren county, Va. , and came with her family of five children to Middletown 
to live. John being then twelve years old, and of a very independent nature, 
undertook to support and educate himself. He went to Woodstock and 
learned the printing business, and after completing his trade, he came back 
to Middletown and entered the store of David S. Banner as clerk. From 
there he went to Winchester, and became book-keeper for Banner & Rhodes, 
and afterward opened a branch store for them at Moorefield. Leaving 
Moorefield, he returned to Winchester and became book-keeper for Isaac 
Paul, who was doing a large business. About this time he began studying 
medicine, and graduated, June 3, 1848, at the Winchester Medical College. 
He was an excellent anatomist, and became demonstrator of anatomy in the 
Winchester College during his second year as a student. Shortly after 
graduating, he began practicing at Bloomery, Hampshire Co., Va. , and 
remained there until November, 1850, when he went to New Orleans, but 
not liking that part of the country, he returned and entered into partner- 
ship with Dr. Carr, at Morgantown, Monongalia Co., W. Va. In the fall of 
1851 he returned to Bloomery and resumed his old practice, remaining 
there until April, 1854, when he came to Middletown. In 1855 he married 
Miss E. Sophie Aby, who, with six children, survives him. At the begin- 
ning of the late war he was appointed surgeon of the Fifty-first Virginia 
Regiment, and was senior surgeon of his brigade. He resigned his position 
while the army was at Yorktown, and, returning home, he was arrested and 
taken to Winchester, to Gen. Banks, who offered him the appointment of 
surgeon in the Union army, with the rank of brigadier- general, which he 
declined, and returned to Middletown to his practice. After the war he 
was elected magistrate, and re elected several times but finally resigned. 
Giving his whole attention to the subject of medicine, he became 
prominent among his brother practitioners. He was a man of brilliant 
mind, but of few words. Dr. Guyer was president of the Frederick County 
Medical Society from 1875 to the time of his death, which occurred Decem- 
ber 9, 1888. 

H. R. Hack, deceased, was born in Baltimore, Md. , and was a farmer by 
occupation. He married a daughter of Jacob and Louisa Van Meter, and 
grand -daughter of Isaac Van Meter, who is mentioned in the historic tradi- 
tion below. The Van Meters are of old stock, their ancestors having come 
to Virginia at an early day. Jacob Van Meter was a farmer of Hardy county, 
W. Va. H. R. Hack was the father of six children, viz. : J. Van Meter 
Hack, F. Alexander Hack, Virginia Rieman Hack, Marie Louise Hack, Kath- 
leen M. Hack and H. R. Hack, Jr. (deceased). He came from Baltimore 
to Frederick county in 1883, and at the time of his death owned 300 acres 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGKAPHY. 697 

of land, originally the Barton property. Mr. Hack died in 1887, at the age 
of forty-five years. Mrs. Hack, widow of H. R. Hack, is still residing at 
the old Barton homestead. The late Col. John Hite built this house in 
1753, and it was considered by far the finest dwelling house west of the 
Blue Ridge. On the wall plate of a framed barn built by Hite, the figures 
1747 are plainly marked and now to be seen. The dwelling house is of 
stone, and has a very ancient appearance. 

The Van Meters. The history of the Valley of Virginia, by Kercheval, 
relates that a man by the name of John Van Meter, from New York, some 
years previous to the first settlement of the Valley, discovered the fine 
country on the Wappatomaka. This man was a kind of wandering Indian 
trader, became well acquainted with the Delawares, and once accompanied 
a war party, which marched from the south for the purpose of invading 
the Catawbas. The Catawbas met them where Pendleton court-house now 
stands, and defeated them with immense slaughter. Van Meter was engaged 
on the side of the Delawares in this battle. When Van Meter returned to 
New York, he advised his sons that if they ever migrated to Virginia, by all 
means to secure a part of the South Branch bottom, and described the lands 
above * ' the trough ' ' as the finest body of land he had ever seen in all his 
travels. One of his sons, Isaac Van Meter, came to Virginia in the year 
1736, made improvements on the farm where " Fort Pleasant " was after- 
ward located. Mr. Van Meter returned to New Jersey, came out again in 
1740, removed with his family, and settled on the land. Isaac Van Meter, 
of Hardy county, grandfather of Mrs. Hack, detailed this tradition to the 
author. 

Dr. M. Steck, deceased, was a native of Wolf township, Lycoming Co., 
Penn. , and was born in 1818. His parents were John Steck and Elizabeth 
(Hill) Steck, his father a prominent farmer of Lycoming county. Dr. Steck 
was educated at Bloomsburg Academy, and graduated from the Jefferson 
Medical College at Philadelphia. For a number of years he practiced his 
profession with great success. During President Fillmore's administration 
he was appointed Indian agent in New Mexico, a position which he held 
until after the close of the war. He proved himself one of the most sue 
cessf ul agents the government ever employed. He was the first to negotiate 
a treaty with "Cochise," one of the wiliest savages of that region. He 
was also superintendent of Indian affairs for two years. In 1878 Dr. Steck 
was nominated for lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania on the greenback 
ticket, receiving 74,982 votes in the state. At the same time he was a 
prominent Granger. On account of ill health, in 1880, Dr. Steck, with his 
wife and family, came to Virginia and purchased 200 acres of land from 
James Carr Baker, originally part of the Jost Hite tract. Dr. Steck was 
married to Elizabeth, daughter of Hon. Thomas Wood, a well-known farmer 



698 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

of his native county, and the result of this union was three children, whose 
names are Rachel W., John M. and Thomas W., all of whom now live at 
home. This indulgent father and kind husbaud departed this life in the 
same year in which he moved to the " Old Dominion." His widow and 
children now reside on the farm which he purchased. Dr. Steck held a 
high place in the esteem of his fellow-citizens in his native county, not only 
for his prominence in all public enterprises, but for generosity in behalf of 
the poor and helpless, and during his short career here gained the respect 
and admiration of the community. He was a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, and the Lutheran church, and was a democrat. 

John Newton Trussell, merchant, Shepherdstown, was born in Clarke 
county, Va. , October 28, 1849. His great-grandfather lived in Dumfries, 
Va. , and his grandfather went to Clarke county when a young man. His 
father moved to Upperville, Fauquier Co., Va. , the close of the year 1865. 

John N. Trussell was educated at the Bethel Military Academy, near 
Warrenton, Va. For one year, after his graduation, he taught school in 
Upperville, Va. , and then moved to Jefferson county, W. Va., and taught 
there three years, and then taught one year in Keyser, W. Va. Ho then 
returned to Upperville, Va. , and engaged in merchandising three years; 
then came to Shepherdstown in 1882, and engaged in the same business. 
He married Mattie Colbert, of Jefferson county, February 28, 1877. Five 
children have been born to them, all now living: Bernard Hopkins, George 
W., John Cary, Mary R. and Shaulter Vance. Mr. Trussell is now city 
recorder, a democrat and a Baptist. 

Rev. Edward F. Heterick, farmer, P. O. Welltown, Frederick Co., Va., 
is the son of Robert Heterick, who was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1749, 
and educated at Edinburgh, emigrating to this country in 1784. He became 
principal of an academy at York, Penn. , and afterward at Lancaster, same 
state, about the beginning of this century. He came to Winchester after- 
ward, and was principal of the Winchester Academy for seventeen years. 
He was very active in having water brought from the Town Run spring into 
Winchester in wooden pipes. In this he was aided by the late Dr. Brown, 
of Harper's Ferry. In 1822 he moved to a farm near Hopewell Meeting 
House, that he had purchased the preceding year, and on which he lived 
until his death in 1840, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. He mar- 
ried Mary Read Cary, originally from Gloucester county, Va. Four of their 
children yet survive, as follows: Robert M. , now of Washington, Rappahan- 
nock Co., Va. , who went to that county at the formation of it in 1883, resid- 
ing there ever since, practicing law till 1860, when he was elected clerk of 
the courts, which position he filled till 1881, when he was succeeded by his 
son. Mr. Heterick' s father was a Mason when he came to this county in 
1784, and so also is his son, Robert M., their combined membership 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 699 

amounting to over one hundred years, the father being now in his eightieth 
year, hale and hearty, and able to write without glasses. The other children 
of Robert Heterick are: Edward F., the youngest son, who is a minister 
and resides on the home place, purchased by his father; Margaret J., who 
lives with her brother Edward; and Sarah H. , widow of Aaron H. Hackney, 
living on Apple Pie Ridge, Frederick Co. . Va. 

Rebecca T. Baldwin and Rachel A. Wright, P. O. Rest. These ladies 
are sisters. Their great-grandfather, John Wright, formerly of Adams 
county, Penn. , was the first man to survey a road across the Alleghany 
mountains, and afterward settled in Frederick county, Va., about five miles 
from where is now Rest post-office. He married a daughter of David 
Faulkner's, of Virginia. Their grandfather, also John Wright, was born in 
Pennsylvania, and came to the same place with his father. He married 
Susanna Greist, of Adams county, Penn, and unto them were born Daniel, 
Ann, Benjamin and Jesse, the father of our subjects, who was born May 
18, 1806, and his life was spent in Frederick county, Va. He died October 
1, 1882. In 1842 he married Lydia H, daughter of John and Rachel 
Griffith, whose grandfather came from Wales. Seven children were born 
to them, viz. : John D., Rachel A., Mary S., Martha E., Rebecca T., Joseph 
R. and Samuel B., all living at this writing. Their uncle, Daniel Wright, 
owned 1,600 acres of land, half of which he bequeathed to the heirs of Jesse 
and the balance to the Clendenning family. Joseph R. and Samuel B. 
Wright own and reside on the old homestead. Our subjects still own 
and reside on their portion. The mother is living with Miss Rachel in a 
home erected recently. Samuel R. Baldwin, the husband of Rebecca T. , 
is from Loudoun county, Va., son of Joseph and Eliza H. Baldwin. Mr. 
and Mrs. Samuel Baldwin occupy the old homestead, in which Gen. George 
Washington is said to have been a guest. Mr. Baldwin is a prosperous 
farmer. They are members of the Society of Friends. 

John W. Glaize, farmer, Winchester, was born November 19, 1828, 
five miles from Winchester, Va. , on the Solomon Glaize farm. He lived with 
his parents until twenty- five years of age, after which he was employed by 
different farmers in the neighborhood until 1857. He married Elizabeth 
J., daughter of Martin and Mary Ann Fries. He then rented a farm of 
John Glaize until 1860, when he purchased a farm of eighty acres, three 
miles northwest of Winchester, where he now resides. Their children are 
Preston S., now living in Ohio; Rosa V., now Mrs. Taylor Lewis; Anna R., 
dead, and Martin S. , all members of the Lutheran Church. Since the war 
Mr. Glaize has been a republican. The property now owned by him he 
accumulated by his own toil and thrift. His father, Solomon Glaize, was 
born and died on the Glaize farm. He married Elizabeth, daughter of 
Charles Streit, of White Hall, Va., and their children were Julia A. 



700 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

(deceased), John W., Maria C. (now Mrs. Isaac Stine), Joanna S. (died at 
the age of fourteen years) and Charles M. (deceased). Mrs. Elizabeth 
Glaize dying in 1838, Mr. Glaize married as a second wife, Elizabeth, 
daughter of Michael Fries, and two children, David S. and Rachael, were 
the result of their union. 

John W. Rice, cashier Shenandoah Valley National Bank, Winchester, 
was born in Shenandoah county, Va. , in 1848, and is the son of Lewis G. Rice, 
and grandson of Dr. John W. Rice, a prominent and highly respected citi- 
zen of the county named. John W. Rice, Sr., was the father of a large 
family. Lewis G. Rice was a lawyer, who died in early manhood, when our 
subject, John W. Rice, Jr. , was but a child. His wife was Margaret Con 
way, and they had two children. Mr. Rice spent his childhood with his 
grandmother Conway, and began work for himself when but thirteen years 
of age. He received his education in the schools of Winchester. He has 
been identified with the Shenandoah Valley National Baak since 1871, first 
having been runner, then promoted to discount clerk, and in 1883 he be- 
came cashier. In 1875 he was married to Mary C. Peifer, and to them 
have been born two children, only one living, Warren Rice. He is a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and a democrat. 

Dr. R. W. Stone, manufacturer, Winchester, son of Solomon Stone, a 
farmer of Vermont, is a native of Canada and was born in Simcoe count)^ 
in 1840, and in the country of his birth he grew to manhood. He was edu- 
cated in the public schools, and in 1860 commenced the study of medicine 
and pursued it till he graduated from the medical department of Victoria 
College at Toronto, after which, for two years, he practiced his profession 
successfully. In 1866 Dr. Stone came to Columbia Furnace, Va. , and en- 
gaged in the iron business with the firm of John Wissler & Son, and there 
continued until 1883, when he became a member of the Winchester Paper 
Company, a well-known joint stock company. Dr. Stone is a Mason and a 
democrat. 

Lewis P. Hartman, retired, Winchester. Among the oldest citizens of 
this city who were born here,' and who are still residing in Winchester, is 
Lewis P. Hartman. His father, Daniel, was a native of Reading, Penn. , 
and -was the son of John Hartman, who came from Germany. John settled 
in Pennsylvania, and was the father of five children, Daniel being among 
the youngest. It was in the beginning of this century that Daniel came to 
Winchester. Farming was his principal occupation, having purchased 1,000 
acres of land, known as "Hackwood Park," and he became prominent dur- 
ing the war by reason of the warfare on and around it. He married Sarah 
Huber, whose father was a native of Germany, and the result of the union 
was two sons and seven daughters, of whom but five are now living. With 
the exception of three years and five months, Mr. Hartman has spent his en- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 701 

tire life in his birthplace, three years being passed in Alexandria, and five 
months in Missouri. When fifteen years of age he learned the drug business, 
and followed it for three years, and then engaged in farming for fifteen 
years. After his return from Missouri he engaged in the drug business un- 
til 1872, when he retired. For twenty-one years Mr. Hartman was a bank 
director in Shenandoah Valley National Bank, was also a director in the 
Bank of Winchester, Va., for several years, and until it ceased operations, 
caused by the war. He is now treasurer and director of the Winchester 
Gas and Electric Light Company, having been one of the first stockholders 
in that company. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and was at one 
time a whig, but is now democratic in his principles. 

Rev. Lewis G. M. Miller, minister of the Lutheran Church of Win- 
chester, is the son of John S. and Jane F. (Schmidt) Miller. He was edu- 
cated at AVashington College, now Washington and Lee University, Lexing- 
ton, Va. , and took a theological course at the Lutheran Theological Semi- 
nary, Philadelphia. He was ordained as a minister in 1874 by the old Penn- 
sylvania Ministerium, and has preached in Pennsylvania and Virginia. He 
was wedded to Miss Laura M. Campbell, daughter of Thomas B. Campbell, 
of Winchester, and four children were born to them: Laura, Mary, Jane 
and Lewis. Mr. Miller came to W^inchester in 1888 and took charge of the 
Lutheran Church of that city, and has remained there to the present time. 

Maurice M. Lynch, county superintendent of schools and attorney at 
law, Winchester, is of Irish descent, and was born in Frederick county, Va. , 
in May, 1854, and is a son of Maurice Lynch, of the same county. He was 
educated in the Winchester schools and at the University of Virginia. He 
served as justice of the peace for two and one-half years. Mr. Lynch was 
appointed county superintendent of schools by the State Board of Education 
in 1886, and his appointment was confirmed by the state senate. He studied 
law under Judge William L. Clark and at the University of Virginia, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1887. Mr. Lynch is a member of the Catholic 
Church, and a democrat. 

William R. Alexander, lawyer, Winchester, was born in Clarke county 
in 1840, and is the son of William C. Alexander, who was a farmer of that 
county, and who was married to Miss Swart, of Fauquier county, Va. W' ill- 
iam R. was the youngest child of his parents, and was educated at the 
Loudoun Preparatory School, of which V. Dabney, now of New York City, 
was principal, and studied law at the University of Virginia, taking the 
whole course of law, also the final oratorship of the Jefferson Literary So- 
ciety of that institution, in one year. In 1875 he came to Winchester, and 
has since practiced his profession here, and is now commonwealth's attorney 
for the city of Winchester, to which position he has been elected for four 
successive. terms. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, of the demo- 



702 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

cratic party, and of the Baptist Church, and is one of the most successful 
criminal lawyers of the state. April 5, 1876, he married Miss Annie S. 
Willis, eldest daughter of Rev. E. J. Willis; she died December 3, 1886, 
leaving three children, two daughters and one son. 

Henry Kinzel. deceased, was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, July 
27, 1828. He came to America July 6, 1843, and for five years remained 
in Baltimore and Washington, coming to Winchester November 28, 1848. 
On September 1, 1851, he entered the confectionery business, and was quite 
successful in that enterprise. He was married to Miss Hardy, a daughter 
of the late Charles Hardy, and to them six children were born. Mr. Kin- 
zel was an energetic, enterprising, public spirited man. For several years 
he was president of the city council of Winchester, and at the time of his 
death was chief fire warden of the city. He was a director of the Union 
Bank, and of the building association, a member of the Knights Templar, 
treasurer of the Blue Lodge and keeper of wampum of the I. O. li. M. 
of Virginia. He was one of the original proprietors of the Winchester 
Paper Mills. Mr. Kinzel died very suddenly, of apoplexy, at Leesburg, 
Fla., in February, 1886. For thirty-four years Mr. Kinzel was engaged 
in business in Winchester, and had by his honesty and uprightness gained 
the esteem and respect of his fellow-citizens. 

Col. W. W. Glass, Winchester, is descended from Samuel Glass 
(known as Samuel the Emigrant) and Mary Gamble, his wife, who came 
from Bainbridge. County Down, Ireland, in 1736. Their children, John, 
Eliza, Sarah, David, Robert and Joseph, were all born in Ireland and came 
with them. They settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, near the 
head of Opequon creek, and in the neighborhood of Kernstown. Their 
descendants are now to be found in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, 
Indiana and Texas. The descendants of Samuel and Mary (Gamble) Glass 
have been greatly blessed with increase of numbers, and particularly with 
a reverence for religion. They are stanch Presbyterians, and from the dif- 
ferent families in the male and female lines have arisen numerous preachers 
of the gospel. 

Robert, son of Samuel the Emigrant, married Miss Elizabeth Fulton, 
and to them were born thirteen children, among whom was Samuel. 

Samuel, son of Robert and grandson of Samuel the Emigrant, married 
Miss Elizabeth Rutherford, and to them were born seven children, among 
whom was Thomas. 

Thomas, son of Samuel and great-grandson of Samiael the Emigrant, 
was born at Rose Hill, the old family homestead on the head of Opequon 
creek. He was a farmer by occupation. He served in the war of 1812 as 
a lieutenant, and took part in the defense of Baltimore and Fort McHenry. 
He married, in 1833, Miss Catharine Wood (daughter of Robert Wood and 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 703 

niece of Gen. James Wood, tenth governor of Virginia), and to this union 
were born two children, viz. : William Wood and Ella; Ella died unmarried 
at the age of twenty-tive years. 

William Wood Glass, son of Thomas, was born in 1835, at Rose Hill; 
is still living, and married, in 1861, Miss Nannie L. Luckett, of Loudoun 
county, Va., who died in a few months. He married, in 1865, Miss Nannie 
R. Campbell, his present wife, and to them were born seven children, all 
now living with their parents at Glen Burnie, the former residence of Gov. 
Wood, near Winchester. He received his education in the schools of Win- 
chester and at Washington College, and has made agriculture his life-long 
pursuit. He is an active member of the church, serving as an elder in the 
Loudoun Street Presbyterian Church of Wiochester. 

John H. Dean. Ezekiel Dean came from Pennsylvania to Charlestown, 
Va. , soon after the Revolution. He was a brother of Silas Dean, who, with 
Benjamin Franklin, was one of the three commissioners sent by this govern- 
ment to negotiate with France. Ezekiel Dean was the father of four daugh - 
ters, and also one son, Henry T. Dean, who was born in 1806. In 1829 he 
married Mary Wall, daughter of John Wall, who also came from Pennsyl- 
vania soon after the Revolution. John Wall was a man of great abilities, 
and a bitter opponent of slavery. He died in 1849. His son, John F. 
Wall, represented Frederick county twenty eight years in the state legis- 
lature. The children of John Wall were Jacob, George, Betsy, Mary and 
JohnF. Wall. Henry T. Dean was an opponent of slavery also. He died in 
1851. His wife, Mary (Wall) Dean, died in 1872. Their children were 
Mary E., John H. , Frances, Georgianna and Virginia, all living. 

John H. Dean was born in Winchester in 1832. He has been a mer- 
chant and hotel-keeper, and an active man in politics. He was proprietor 
of the Washington Hotel in 1857, in Winchester, but, after the battle of Bull 
Run, went into the mercantile business, but gave that up, because of the 
turbulence of the times. In 1863 he operated a stage line between Win- 
chester and Martinsburg, but this enterprise, which was a very profitable 
one, was suddenly terminated by the capture of twenty-eight of his horses, 
used in his stage line, by the Confederate forces under Ewell's command. 
June 15, 1863, being a Union man, he was captured and sent to Richmond, 
where he remained a prisoner until the latter part of September, being con- 
fined in Castle Thunder. After the war he resumed mercantile pursuits in 
Parkersbiarg, but, owing to the sudden depreciation of goods, lost heavily. 
In 1870 he was appointed inspector of customs, and moved to Baltimore, and 
remained till 1873. 

In 1882 he was appointed postmaster of Winchester, and held that posi- 
tion three years. August 18, 1856, Mr. Dean was married to Lucy C. 
Keys. His children are Charles E., Florence, Willie, Clarence, Julia, 



704 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Frank and Arthur. Mr. Dean was a pronounced Union man, and since 
the war has been a delegate to every republican convention in the state 
except two, and a delegate to the national conventions in 1884 and again 
in 1888. 

Dr. John Whitall Owen, physician and surgeon, P. O. Stephens City, 
was born May 10, 1811, in North Wales, Montgomeryshire, son of John and 
Susanna (Whitall) Owen, the parents of two children: Sarah (who died at the 
age of ten years) and the subject of this sketch. John Owen, Sr. , was an 
officer in the English army, in the "Light Dragoons," and was killed in 
Bangalore, India, at about twenty-two years of age, seven years after he 
entered the army. Dr. Owen passed his early life in Welsh Pool, and when 
eighteen years of age came to Washington City and there joined an uncle 
and engaged in the mercantile business. In 1831 he came to Virginia and 
began the study of medicine under five well-known medical and surgical 
experts: Surgery under Dr. Hugh H. McGruire, of Winchester, Dr. Straith, 
Dr. John Philip Smith, Dr. William Bradford, and anatomy under Dr. 
Daniel Conrad. In 1848 he graduated at Winchester, where he had been 
a private student under Dr. Robert G. Randolph. He at once began the prac- 
tice of his profession at Stephens City, Va. , and has continued there ever 
since. During 1869 he practiced in Washington City. Dr. Owen's first 
wife was Mrs. Edwin B. Burswell, nee Cecilia Peyton, daughter of Henry T. 
Washington, of King George county, Va., the mother of one child, Anna 
Amelia. This highly intelligent and Christian lady died September 16, 
1841, aged thirty-three years. His second wife was Anna P. Penett, of 
Yonkers, N. Y. , and by her were born three daughters : Evaline (an infant, 
deceased), Beatrice Eugenia and Jessie Peyton. The mother of these chil- 
dren died August 16, 1880, at the age of twenty-three years. During the 
war Dr. Owen remained as a private practitioner, and cared for the sick on 
both sides. In 1846 he was elected captain of a militia company in Clarke 
county, commanded by Col. Benjamin Morgan, of that county. He has 
never taken any active part in politics, and is one of the oldest Masons in 
the county. 

At one time Dr. Owen was possessed of considerable property in Clarke 
county, owning some eight different properties throughout this section, and 
was a large slave-holder, but he sustained great losses by the war, amounting 
to about $45,000. He was a widower for thirty-four years after the death 
of his first wife. His practice now extends over the entire county. 

Tabb Family. This family is of English origin, and came to the colony 
of Virginia at an early date after the first settlement at Jamestown. Hum- 
phrey Toy Tabb and William Tabb are the first two whose names have been 
preserved, but at what date they lived is not exactly known. William Tabb, 
supposed to have been the son of the above William, was born in 1702, 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 705 

married in 1832, and from him descended all the Tabbs of the Valley, whence 
he emigrated about 1750 to 1760, settling in Frederick county, now known 
as Jefferson county. William owned a fine estate, obtained by royal grant, 
and many of his descendants were great lovers of fine horses. One of them, 
as per account published elsewhere in this work, appears over 100 years 
ago as the leading spirit in the jockey races of Charlestown, that ancient 
village having been, as early as 1786, the place of rendezvous for the horse- 
fanciers of the lower valley. Two of the Tabbs marched fi'om Morgan's 
Spring, in Capt. Hugh Stephenson's company, in September, 1775, to 
Boston, but were discharged in October, in consequence of the death of a 
brother at home. A copy of this discharge, written by Gen. Horatio Gates, 
at the order of Gen. Washington, is in th6 possession of one of the family 
in Martinsburg. The Tabbs have generally been farmers, and usually 
people of good standing and influence. Several representatives pf the family 
still reside in the lower valley. 

Forrest W. Brown, prosecuting attorney for Jefferson county, is a de- 
scendant, on his mother's side, of Samuel Washington, eldest whole brother 
of George Washington. Samuel Washington came to Jefferson county be- 
tween the years 3754 and 1772, and built the stone house known as Hare- 
wood. His brother, Charles Washington, after whom Charlestown was 
named, came at the same time. On his father's side, Mr. Brown is a de- 
scendant of William Brown, who came over with Capt. John Smith in his 
third voyage, and settled in Westmoreland county, Va. , where he owned 
a large tract of land. William B. Brown, the grandfather of Forrest W. 
Brown, came to Jefferson county in the beginning of the present century, 
and was cashier of the Charlestown Bank for many years. His brother, 
Thomas Brown, was governor of Florida, appointed by President Tyler. 
He was also one of the committee appointed to receive Gen. Lafayette at 
the time he visited this country. Thomas A. Brown, son of William, was 
for a long time a merchant at Charlestown. His wife was Miss Annie S. 
Washington. 

Forrest W. Brown was born in 1855. He received his education in 
Charlestown, was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one, was elected 
to his present office in 1885, and re-elected in 1889. 

Charles McCormick Castleman, farmer, P. O. Berryville, Clark Co. , Va. , 
son of James and Eliza (Baty) Castleman, was born in Frederick county, Va. , 
June 10, 1823. His great-grandfather, David Castleman, was among the 
early settlers of Frederick county, Va. His grandfather, Stephen Castle- 
man, was born in Frederick county, Va., March 12, 1770. His wife, Mary 
Castleman, was a native of the same county, where they resided until their 
death. Maj. David Castleman, son of David and uncle of James Castleman, 
was born September 20, 1776; he was one of the most prominent business 

43 



706 HISTOKY OP THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

men of Frederick county, being a partner in the firm of McCormick & 
Castleman, who did an extensive business at milling and farming, and their 
great success in business enabled them to leave their respective families 
large estates. The Major died August 12, 1831. James Castleman, father 
of Charles McCormick Castleman, was born in Frederick county Va. , Sep- 
tember 28, 1795. He had three brothers: David, William and Thomas, and 
one sister, Mrs. Shively. They were all residents of Frederick county, Va. 
James Castleman was thrice married: first, October 29, 1818, to Eliza, 
daughter of Col. Henry Baty, and by this mai'riage there were five children : 
Stephen D. , Henry W. (deceased), Charles McCormick, David, now living in 
Greensboro, Ala., and Robert H. Their mother died October 16, 1827. 
He next married Emeline M. , daughter of William Castleman, and by this 
union there was one child, which died in iofancy. The mother died August 
10, 1831, and he was again married, to Catherine, daughter of Joseph 
Shepherd, and by this marriage there were four daughters: Ann Eliza 
(deceased wife of James Vance), Mary F. (deceased, widow of Capt. 
William F. Patterson), Eloise (wife of William Patterson), Virginia C 
(wife of George Copenhaver) and one son who died in his fifth year. 
James Castleman was one of Clarke county's most enterprising citizens. 
He represented Clarke county in the legislature of Virginia, in 1848-49. 
He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. 

Charles McCormick Castleman was married June 15, 1853, to Emeline, 
daughter of John and Alferna Francis, Loudoun county, Va. They have 
had born to them seven children: Charles W. (deceased), Eva C. (wife of 
George W. Carter), Lizzie E. , Shelby D. (who resides in Anniston, 
Alabama); Mary F. and Howell Lea. Mr. Castleman was engaged several 
years in the hardware business at Alexandria, Va. , and was sheriff of that 
county. After the war he was several years in Texas, and returned to the 
old homestead in 1868, where he now resides, and is engaged in farming. 
Mann R. P., son of Alfred Castleman and grandson of James Castleman. 
was born in Clarke county, Va. He was reared on a farm. He married a 
daughter of James Milton. By this union there are four children. At the 
commencement of the Civil war he volunteered in the Second Virginia 
Infantry, and was made its color bearer. While in the service he was 
elected to the Virginia legislature, in which he served one term. Since the 
war he has been engaged in milling and farming. He is said to have been 
as brave a soldier as ever shouldered a musket or carried a flag. 

Charles Broadway Roj^ss, merchant. New York. This gentleman was 
born in Woodsboro', Frederick Co., Md., February 11, 1836, his parents 
being Peter H. and Belinda Rouss. In 1841 he removed to Runnymede, 
Berkeley Co., Va., and in 1846 he entered as a student at the academy in 
Winchester, Va. In 1851 he had his first experience in merchandising, 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 707 

entering the employ of Jacob Seaseney, at Winchester. The remuneration 
he received for his services at that time amounted to $1 a week. In Feb- 
ruary, 1854, he opened a store for himself with a capital of $500, and con- 
tinued to conduct this business until the war, leaving Winchester with 
Stonewall Jackson's army March 12, 1862, worth $60,000. He served 
through the war, and wandered through the burned district of Richmond 
from the desolation of Appomattox, penniless but undaunted. His fortune 
consisted of a quarter of a million in Confederate four per cents. After the 
war he returned to his father's home at Shannon's Hill, Jefferson Co., 
W. Va. , where he remained one year, engaged in farm work, harvesting in 
the fields and husking corn, but drawing no salary. His restless ambition 
drove him to New York in March, 1866, where, with no capital and $11,000 
in old debts, he began the career which, with varying fortunes, has reached 
its present gigantic proportions. Pluck and energy and a capacity for hard 
work and endurance that had been developed in his early experience, stood 
him in good stead in his battle with the vicissitudes that befall a poor 
young man in a great metropolis, and in 1875 he was worth a quarter of a 
million. In 1876, just as he had struggled to the top, he went under with 
the financial crash of that year. In April of the same year he started 
again, without a dollar, and with an indebtedness of $51,000 as a burden. 
He took the tide at its flood, however, and it led on to fortune. Mr. Rouss 
is now doing a business of $9,000,000 a year, and has one of the largest 
mercantile establishments in the world, having recently erected, in New 
York, a magnificent building, at a cost of $1,000,000. 

John L. Thompson, manufacturer, Berry ville, son of Thomas and Ann 
Thompson, was born in Jefferson county, Va. , in 1829. His father was 
born in England in 1791, and came to this country in 1820, and settled in 
Jefferson county, Va. In 1822 he was married to Ann, daughter of William 
and Lindsay Jett, and by this union there were five children, viz. : Ann, 
deceased; John L. ; Thomas M., resides in Illinois; Matthew W., resides in 
Missouri; Julia, wife of James Long, of Illinois. Mr. Thompson' s occupa- 
tion through life was teaching and clerking. He lived to the advanced age 
of seventy-four years, having dej^arted this life in 1865. His wife's de- 
mise occurred September 18, 1856, at the age of sixty-four years. John L. 
Thompson (the subject of this sketch) was married in 1852 to Emily F., 
daughter of Joseph and Mary Smith, of Clarke county, Va. , and they have 
been blessed with five children: Thomas S. ; John M., resides in Grafton, 
W. Va. ; Randolph H. , resides at Roanoke, Va. ; Charles H. , and Joseph 
E. Mr. Thompson served in the Confederate army, as captain of Company 
C, Fifty-fifth Virginia Regiment, Sixteenth Brigade. In 1865 he came to 
Berryville and engaged in business with R. K. Ogden, establishing the firm 
of Thompson & Ogden, so well known in this vicinity at the present time as 



708 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

manufacturers of sash and blinds, and as contractors and builders. Mr. 
Thompson is one of Berry ville's most prosperous and highly esteemed citi- 
zens. 

The McSheery Family. Richard and William McSherry (twins) were 
born at St. John's Point, County Down, Ireland, July 29, 1747 (Old 
Style). On their mother's side they were descended from the celebrated 
Chief O'Hanlon, who was outlawed during the wars with England. The 
name McSherry is found in Hart's "Irish Pedigrees." At the age of eight- 
een years they left Ireland and went to Kingston, in Jamaica, where, in the 
course of a few years, by their industry and capacity for business, they ac- 
quired a considerable fortune. Toward middle life they left Jamaica for 
the United States. After traveling through this country, then just recover- 
ing from the war with England, William McSherry established himself at 
Baltimore, as a hardware merchant. 

Richard McSherry, the progenitor of the family of that name in Vir- 
ginia, purchased large tracts of land in Virginia in the great valley between 
the Blue Ridge and Alleghany mountains, which has been called the Garden 
of Virginia, selecting for his home an elegant estate, near Leetown, then 
Berkeley county, Va. , now Jeft'erson county, W. Va. , which he named 
' ' Retirement, ' ' by which name the estate is still known. In July, 1 79 1 , Rich- 
ard McSherry was married to Anastatia, the third daughter of Richard Lilly, 
of Frederick county, Md. , and grand- daughter of the venerable Samu,el 
Lilly of Pennsylvania. Mr. McSherry was of fine personal appearance, 
dressing carefully in the fashion of his day, with lace ruffles, powdered 
hair and silver knee buckles. He was genial and kind in manners, exer- 
cising a generous and elegant hospitality. The ground upon which the pres- 
ent Catholic Church stands, and the first Catholic Church with the cemetery 
attached, was purchased by his liberality. He died at his home, "Retire- 
ment," September 7, 1822, and was buried in the Catholic cemetery in Mar- 
tinsburg, W. Va. He left a widow and nine children — four sons and five 
daughters: Richard, doctor, born May, 1792, married Miss Ann C. King, 
January, 1817, died the 20th of December, 1873; Dennis Lilly, lawyer, 
born March 26, 1794, married Susan H. Abell, December 19, 1820, died 
October 18, 1871 ; William, provincial of the Jesuits, died December 18, 1839; 
James, lawyer, married Miss Helen Carberry, March, 1855, and is now liv- 
ing; Susan, married John Piet, merchant, Baltimore, deceased; Ann, mar- 
ried Edward Nicholson, Baltimore, now dead; Catherine, married George 
Doll, merchant, Martinsburg, W. Va., now deceased; Cecelia, immarried. 

Dennis Lilly McSherry, the father of Dr. James Whann McSherry, was 
born upon the fai*m known as "Retirement," near Leetown, JeflPerson Co., 
W. Va. , on the 26th of March, 1794, and was the second son of Richard 
and Anastatia McSherry, who both lived and died on the estate. He (Den- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 709 

nis L. McSherry) was educated at Georgetown College, D. C. , and while 
attending college, the war of 1812 broke out. He joined a company from 
his native county, was made ensign and served until the end of the war. 
He studied law with Mr. Fitzhugh, in Hagerstown, Md. , and was married 
on the 19th of December, 1820, to Miss Susan Hebb Abell. eldest daughter 
of Capt. John and Sarah Forrest Abell, of Elkwood, Jefferson Co., Va., 
whose families were among the early settlers of Charles and St. Mary's 
counties, Md. Mr. McSherry died at his home in Martinsburg, W. Va. , on 
the 18th of October, 1871. Two children survive — Martha G. and James 
Whann, both residing in Martinsburg. 

James Whann McSherry, physician, Martinsburg, W. Va. , was born in 
that city Decerpber 7, 1833. He was educated in Martinsburg Academy and 
St. Mary's College, Baltimore, Md. , and graduated in medicine from the 
University of Maryland in March, 1855. He practiced his profession in 
Martinsburg until October, 1856, then located at Peytona, Boone Co. , Va. , 
in November, 1856, continuing the practice of his profession up to the 
breaking out of the war between the northern and southern states, when he 
was commissioned surgeon of the state troops, by Gov. Henry A. Wise. 
On the organization of the companies for active service, he was elected cap- 
tain of Company B, Thirty-sixth Regiment of Virginia Infantry, was capt- 
ured in a skirmish November 19, 1863: taken to Maiden, then Charleston, 
Kanawha county; then to Wheeling, Va. ; then to Camp Chase, Ohio; then 
to Fort Delaware, from which place, after the close of the war, he returned 
to Martinsburg and resumed the practice of medicine. He married Vir- 
ginia, yoiangest daughter of Hon. C. J. Faulkner, Sr. , January 3, 1876. 
He was elected president of the medical society of the state of West Vir- 
ginia in May, 1877, and president of the county board of health, and en- 
joys a fair practice in Martinsburg, Berkeley Co. , W. Va. 

Dr. Richard McSherry was born in the county of Berkeley, upon the farm 
known as "Retirement," near Leetown, on the 28th of May, 1792; was 
the brother of Dennis Lilly McSherry, and eldest son of Richard and An- 
astatia McSherry, who both lived and died on the estate. Dr. Richard Mc- 
Sherry was educated at Frederick City and at Hagerstown, Md. , and lastly 
at Georgetown College, D. C, where he completed his course of instruction. 
He commenced the study of medicine under Dr. Samuel J. Cramer, a grad- 
uate of Edinburgh, Scotland, a very accomplished physician, who resided at 
Charlestown, Va. From there he went to Philadelphia, and entered the 
office of Prof. Nathaniel Chapman, of the University of Pennsylvania . from 
which institution he graduated in 1816. Meantime, while attending lectures, 
the war of 1812 broke out, and he joined a company from his native county, 
and marched to repel the British invaders. Upon the death of the medical 
officer attached to his command, he was commissioned surgeon, and served 



710 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

as such until the end of the war. In 1816 he located at Martinsburg, 
and commenced the practice of medicine, and there remained and enjo^'ed 
an extensive and lucrative practice until 1871, when he retired from profes- 
sional life. He was married, in January, 1817, to Miss Ann C, daughter 
of George King, of Georgetown, whose family were among the early Mary- 
land colonists, and died in Baltimore, at the residence of his son, on the 
20th of December, 1873. His remains were interred in the Catholic ceme- 
tery of Martinsburg. No man enjoyed a more enviable reputation than Dr. 
McSherry. As a physician, he stood in the front rank of his profession, 
and, by constant study, kept pace with the advance of medical science, his 
mild and amiable temper, bland and courteous deportment to all, making 
him a general favorite. His reading extended beyond the scope of his pro- 
fessional studies, and his familiarity with history and general literature 
made him at all times an agreeable companion. He was kind and char- 
itable, and bore throughout life a reputation for unsullied integrity. 

Dr. Richard McSherry left three sons: Richard McSherry, professor 
of principles and practice of medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, 
is dead; Dr. Henry Fenelon McSherry, surgeon. United States navy, died 
in service in the Chinese Sea, in 1866; William McSherry, a Jesuit priest, 
died about 1846; and three daughters, the eldest, Eliza, married William 
McSherry, of Littlestown, Penn. (she is dead, and left nine children); Mar- 
garet and Anna are living in Martinsburg, W. Va. Prof. Richard McSherry, 
of Baltimore, left three sons: Richard Meredith and Allen, lawyers, and 
Henry Clinton, a physician, all of Baltimore, Md. 

Joseph T. Griffith, P. O. Berryville. In or about the year 1720, John 
Griffith with his two brothers, who descended from the line of Prince Llew- 
ellyn, removed from Wales to America and settled in what is now the state 
of Maryland. One of his sons, Howard Griffith, was born June 17, 1757, 
and died January 4, 1834, having been prominent in the Revolutionary 
war. He married Jemima Jacobs, of Prince George county, and they raised 
a family of five sons and four daughters, most of whom settled in the state 
of their nativity. His second son, Greenberry Griffith, was born in Mont- 
gomery county, Md. , May 20, 1787, and in early life lived in Washington 
and Alexandria, Va. At the age of twenty-seven years he married Prudence 
Jones, of Alexandria, Va. , where he resided. In the war of 1812 he was a 
gallant officer, in command of the Alexandria Artillery, in Gen. Young's 
brigade, under Gen. Winder and Com. David Porter, of the United States 
navy. After the battle at White House, he was presented with a sword, a 
compliment for his bravery. Shortly after the war he returned to Mont- 
gomery county, Md. , with his family, where he lived, and died at the age of 
sixty-two years, leaving a widow and ten children — six sons and four daugh- 
ters. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGEAPHY, 711 

His third son, Joseph T. Griffith, being the eldest at home, who was 
born June 1, 1828, at twenty years of age was left in charge of his mother 
and minor children. In a short time thereafter he was engaged as clerk by 
Leonidas Wilson, of Clarksburg, Md. , in the mercantile business. Several 
years after he removed to Knoxville, Md., on the Potomac river, opposite 
Loudoun county, Va. , engaging in the mercantile business with a partner. 
At the age of twenty-six he married Miss Jane Wilson, a lady of high social 
position and character, April 4, 1854, and in 1858 he removed with his 
small family to Duffield's, JefPerson Co., Va. , where he was successful and 
prosperous as a merchant until the breaking out of the war, in 1861, his 
co-partner being J. H. L. Hunter, and later, Wm. P. Brinton, of Pennsyl- 
vania, son of Judge Terre Brinton, of Lancaster, Penn. It became neces- 
sary for the partnership to be dissolved, when Mr. Brinton returned to 
Pennsylvania, and united with the Union army, being elected colonel of the 
Eighteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, whilst J. T. Griffith, choosing to remain 
in Virginia, united with the Confederate forces under the command of Gen. 
Joseph E. Johnston, and spent much of his time, when not in active service, 
at his headquarters, and, when Gen. Johnston was ordered from the Army 
of the Tennessee, with his command, to Mississippi, the removal of the 
army was intrusted to the charge and superintendence of Mr. Griffith, by 
order of Gen. Johnston. After the war closed, Mr. Griffith spent a year in 
Alabama, when, with his family he removed to Berryville, Clarke county, in 
1866, where he now resides, having continued for some years his old busi- 
ness as merchant, and raised a family of four sons and two daughters. In 
1872 he was contractor in the construction of the Shenandoah Valley Rail- 
road, and afterward, of the Georgetown & Breakwater Railroad in Dela- 
ware, and in 1880-82 the S. V. & R. Railroad. In May, 1887, he was 
elected commissioner of the Revenue of Clarke county for four years. He 
united with the Baptist Church in Maryland, at the age of seventeen years, 
that being the church of his father and grandparents. In 1854 he was a 
prominent member of Blue Ridge Lodge of the I. O. O. F. and in 1863 
was made a Master Mason, in Montgomery, Ala. 

John R. Nunn, cashier of the Bank of Clarke County, Berryville, was 
born in King and Queen county, Va., July 22, 1827, the eldest child of 
George C. Nunn, who married Miss Lucinda Townley, of Essex county. 
John was sent to the best schools of the neighborhood, and in 1845 entered 
Columbian College, and graduated in the class of 1847. He then taught 
school for two years in Henrico county, and in the spring of 1850 was united 
in marriage to the widow of his cousin. Dr. John Mercer Nunn, who was a 
practicing physician in Berryville, but died at an early age. Mrs. Nunn's 
maiden name was Elizabeth Ury Castleman. After his marriage he resided 
two years in his native county, and then moved to Clarke county, and 



712 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

located near Berryville, and was successfully engaged in farming, when the 
war commenced. For several months during the first year of the war he 
commanded a company of militia, and then entered the volunteer service, 
and became a member of Company I, Second Virginia Infantry, Stonewall 
brigade, and as such took part in Jackson's famous valley campaign. From 
the valley he followed Jackson to Richmond, to aid Gen. Lee in defeating 
Gen. McClellan's efforts to capture Richmond. Through the memorable 
seven days' fighting he passed safely, until near the close of the battle of 
Malvern Hill, when he was severely wounded. Again he was wounded at 
the battle of Chancellorsville. From the last wound he did not recover 
sufficiently for active field service, and was appointed provost-marshal of 
the town of Harrisonburg, which position he held till the war ended. 

After the war he returned to the farm, which had been greatly ravaged 
by the armies, and especially by the large force under the ruthless Sheridan. 
To repair injured buildings, restore destroyed fences, re-stock the farm and 
cultivate it, with very limited resources, was a task from which one well 
might shrink, but with a resolute will he undertook the work, and gradually 
the damages were repaired, the fencing built up, and again it became one 
of the most productive in the neighborhood. In 1880 he sold his farm, and 
the following spring moved to Berryville. Wishing to have employment, 
he conceived the idea of starting a bank, which was very much needed in 
the town, and went to work with his accustomed energy to obtain subscrip- 
tions of stock. Succeeding well, the bank was organized, and he was ap- 
pointed cashier, which office he has held up to the present time. 

G. W. Levi, farmer and sheriff, P. O. Berryville, was born November 
23, 1842, at "Richwood," Jefferson Co., Va. He has lived in Clarke 
county, Va.,' since three years of age. His father. Rice W. Levi, was born 
in King George county, Va. , September 24, 1817, and about 1837 went to 
Mount Vernon as manager of that estate, but left there in the beginning of 
1840 for Jefferson county, Va. He was married in 1841, to Georgianna 
Waigley. of Fairfax county, and moved to Clarke county in 1845, and began 
farming. He died June 9, 1872. William Henry Levi, the father of 
Rice W. Levi, was born in King George county, where his father also was 
born and raised. The family is supposed to be of Jewish descent. 

G. W. Levi, whose name appears at the head of this sketch, was raised 
a farmer, and when seventeen years old enlisted in the Clarke Guards and 
served with them during the John Brown raid at Harper's Ferry, in 1859. 
He enlisted in the Clarke Rifles in the spring of 1861, serving one year with 
them and then enlisted in the Fourth Virginia Cavalry, and served until the 
close of the war, being paroled at Berry's Ferry, May 27, 1865. April 12, 
1866, he married Sarah E. Horton, of Prince William county, Va., by whom 
he has had four children, viz. : Henry R., Ida O., George H. and Charles 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGEAPHY. 713 

T. Since his marriage Mr. Levi has beea engaged in farming with com- 
mendable success. In the spring of 1887 he was elected sheriff of Clarke 
county for the term of four years, and is one of Clarke' s substantial, honor- 
able, and highly esteemed citizens. 

John T. Reily, editor and proprietor of the Martinsburg Herald, was 
born in Adams county, Penn. , May 20, 1856. He was educated in the 
public schools and at Conewago Seminary; learned the printing business at 
eighteen years, and has followed it ever since. He published the History 
of Adams County, Penn., in 1880; History of Conewago in 1885; Conewago 
Centennial Celebration in 1887. In 1881 he established the Martinsburg 
Herald. He was appointed deputy collector for the Ninth West Virginia 
Division, district of West Virginia, in 1889. 

Thomas D. Gold, of "Ell wood," near Berryville, Clarke Co., Va., 
descended, on the paternal side, from Thomas Gold, who emigrated from the 
North of Ireland about 1750 and settled in Delaware. He afterward re- 
moved to Virginia and settled on what is now called Summit Point, Jeffer- 
son county. He was of Scotch Irish descent and an elder in the Pres- 
byterian Church. John Gold, his son, bought land in 1815, near Berry- 
ville. His first wife was Lucy McBride, by whom he had three children: 
Daniel, Nancy (Shepherd), and Kitty (Hughes). His second wife was Lucy 
Easton, by whom he had seven children: Calvin, John, Washington, Thom- 
as E. , Elizabeth (Ballenger), Mary (McMahon) and James. 

Daniel Gold, when about eighteen, engaged in mercantile pursuits, at 
Winchester, with the success usually attending such business in " the good 
old days," holding various positions of honor and trust in his town and 
county, and dying in 1852. His first wife, Sarah Duffield, left one daugh- 
ter, Emeline (Spindle). By his second wife, Mary Floyd, he had four chil- 
dren: Selina (Boswell), William Henry, Sarah (Kurtz) and Daniel Lewis. 
After her decease he took a third wife, Mrs. Phoebe Scott, who in every 
respect filled the place of mother to the children. He too, like his father 
and grandfather, was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, his mantle fall- 
ing upon one of his sons. 

Calvin, early in life, went west, settling in Shawneetown, 111. He mar- 
ried a sister of Judge Marshall, of that state, was prosperous in business 
as a merchant, and died, leaving two daughters, Lucy and Achsah, and one 
son, George. 

James died early in life, leaving children who removed to Missouri. 

Washington removed to Berkeley county, Va., where, by industry and 
economy he became a large land owner. He died in 1870, leaving one son, 
Samuel, who is a man of prominence, having represented his county in 
both branches of the state legislature; and three daughters: Page, Sallie 
and Margaret. . 



714 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

John and Thomas E., having become sole owners of the old place, grad- 
ually added to the number of acres until "Ellwood " contained over 700 
acres of fertile land, at the same time making it one of those hospitable man- 
sions for which " Old Virginia," and Clarke, especially, is famous. 

John Gold never married, his highest aspiration being to lead an honest 
life and "mind his own business." He died in 1871. 

Thomas Easton Gold married Miss Lucy Mildred Allen, to whom were 
born three children, only one of whom survived. He was highly esteemed 
for his probity, kindness, and readiness to assist all who called upon him. 
After years filled with good works and faith in Christ, being a prominent 
ofiicial in the Baptist Church, he died December 2, 1877, aged seventy 
years. 

Thomas Daniel, son of the above, was born February 23, 1845. At 
sixteen years of age he entered the Confederate army as a member of the 
Second Virginia Infantry, Stonewall brigade, and served in the ranks 
through the war. In 1866 he was married to Miss Sarah Helm Barnett. 
They have five children: Henry Straith, Mary Washington, Edward Bar- 
nett, Thomas E. and Lucy Neville. 

J. E. Baenett, p. O. Berry ville. J. Edward Barnett' s great-great- 
grandfather on his mother's side, Capt. George Neville, came from England 
and settled in Lancaster county, Va., afterward moving to Fauquier county. 

His wife was Mary Gibbs, a Scotch girl, who bore him nine daughters, 
one of whom, Millie, was the wife of Capt. James Barnett, the great grand- 
father of the subject of this sketch. Capt. Barnett was an ofiicer in the 
Revolutionary ai'my, and after the war he came home sick, and died. By his 
marriage with Millie Neville there were born the following children: George, 
James, Achilles, Richard, Benjamin, Millie and Ambrose. Millie died un- 
married; Achilles and George moved to Lower Virginia; James, Richard 
and Benjamin moved to Mississippi, and became prominent as lawyers and 
physicians; Ambrose married Margaret Helm, and lived near the head of 
Buck Marsh, was a member of the Buck Marsh Baptist Church, and raised 
to manhood and womanhood six children — four daughters and two sons: 
Ann married William Allen, of Caroline county, Va. ; Betsy married- Joseph 
Carter, of Frederick county; Jane married James Forster, and Millie mar- 
ried John Burchell. His son, George Neville Barnett, died unmarried, and 
Neill married Elizabeth Luke, to which marriage were born two sons and one 
daughter. The son, George Neville, was in the Confederate army, 
and died from wounds received at the battle of Chancellorsville, May 5, 
1863. His son, John Edward Barnett, married Lucy V. Berlin, and has 
two children: Mabel Jane and Edward Neville, the latter now living near 
Berry ville, at Soldiers' Rest. The daughter married Thomas D. Gold, who 
also lives near Berry ville, and has five children. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 715 

Thomas Cover, principal of the firm of Thomas Cover & Son, proprie- 
tors of the Star Tannery, Frederick county, Va., is a native of Maryland, 
where he was born in 1843. His father, Hon. Tobias Cover, was born in 
1800 and died in 1865; his wife was Elizabeth Dendrow. He was a tanner 
and farmer and represented his county in the legislature of Maryland; was 
also one of the electors on the democratic ticket who voted for James K. 
Polk for president. Jacob Cover, the grandfather of our subject, was an 
Englishman, but married an American lady. He too was a tanner by trade, 
and was one of the first to engage in that business in Carroll county, then 
a portion of Frederick county, Md. Tobias and his wife were the parents 
of thirteen children, of whom Thomas. is next to the youngest. The early 
life of Mr. Thomas Cover was spent in his native county, where he was 
reared on his father's farm and learned the tanning trade. In addition to 
the ordinary school training he took a course at Fairview Academy. When 
nineteen years of age he engaged in business for himself in Carroll county, 
and after remaining there three years removed to Baltimore county. He 
married Elizabeth, daughter of William Zepp, and eight children were 
born to him, all living. In 1868 he came to Frederick county, and pur- 
chased a small tannery, which has since grown to large proportions. He 
also owns another tannery in Hampshire county, W. Va. His son is now a 
partner in the enterprise. Mr. Cover is one of the directors of the Union 
National Bank of Winchester, and he is a democrat. His family are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church. 

Maj. Daniel E. Wotring, Hayfield, was born November 27, 1830, being 
the third of a family of nine children born to Abram D. and Prudence 
(Felton) Wotring, who lived in Preston county, which was then a part of 
old Virginia. Daniel spent his early days on a farm, and had but little 
schooling. He came to Frederick county at the age of twenty years (1850), 
and had charge of repairs of Northwestern state grade (or toll road); was 
married February 12, 1857, to Nancy Virginia, sixth daughter of Col. James 
B. and Margaret (Rosenberger) Hall. At that time he rented the Hall farm, 
where he lived for nine years, afterward buying the Fremont farm of 425 
acres, which he now occupies as a homestead. They have a family of six 
children: James A., Robert L., Daniel E., Cora P. (wife of Luther 
Maphis, of Shenandoah county), Inez M. and Blanche Virginia. He en- 
tered the Confederate service in 1861, serving two years in the Fifty- first 
Virginia, and was taken prisoner in 1863, and confined in Camp Chase and 
Fort Delaware for six months, when he was exchanged, and, on account of 
poor health, was exempted from service. At the present time Mr. Wotring 
is school trustee and overseer of the poor, for Back Creek district, and has 
charge, for the state, of the Northwestern grade (turnpike toll road). The 
family attend the Lutheran Church, and the major is a democrat. He also 



716 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

had four brothers: Joshua B. , who was wounded in second battle of 
Manassas, and died in 1863, at the age of thirty-one years, being second 
lieutenant in the Thirty-third Infantry, Stonewall brigade; William F., who 
died in 1862, from fever contracted in the army, having served also in the 
Thirty-third Virginia Infantry ; John H. , first lieutenant in same regiment, and 
Benjamin, who was in McNeal's Independent Rangers. 

John H. Wotring, deceased. The subject of this sketch was born in 
Preston county, W. Va. , November 23, 1839, being fourth son of Abram 
Wotring, and coming to Frederick county when about eighteen years of 
age. He first worked on the Northwestern grade (toll road), and edu- 
cated himself by close application of his spare moments, he having received 
only three months of schooling; was married January 8, 1867, to Martha 
E. V. Hall, daughter of Col. James B. Hall, an old resident and large land 
holder of Frederick county. Mr. Wotring left a family of six children: 
Minnie L., born in 1868; Thomas J., born in 1869; Lillian R. , born in 
1871; Edmund P. D., born in 1873; Felton H.. born in 1876; Mary A., 
born in 1880. Mr. Wotring volunteered in the Confederate service the first 
year of the war, remaining till tbe close, as lieutenant in tbe Thirty-third 
Virginia Infantry, Stonewall brigade. His arm was shot away in the sec- 
ond battle of Manassas. He was treasurer of Frederick county, being 
elected on the democratic ticket in 1883, and filling the office with honor 
until his death, which occurred October 1, 1888, after a brief illness of 
pneumonia. The family are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Wot- 
ring was a lineal descendant of the Felton family of England, on his 
mother's side, and a direct descendant of the second son of Loi"d Felton. 
The title is now extinct, and the fortune reverts to the commonwealth of 
England. The Feltons here never tried to reclaim it. His youngest son 
is named in honor of the grandmother Felton. 

V J. R. C. Lewis traces his ancestors from Kydnor Lewis, of Wales, who 
married Wentson, daughter of Lord of Miskin. Then follow twelve genera- 
tions to Sir Edmond Lewis of Van, of Edington, County Wiltz, knighted by 
James I., 1603, died 1630, tomb at Edington; married Lady Ann, daughter 
of Earl of Dorset, widow of Robert Jacob Beauchamp. Their sons were 
Edward, William, Richard and Robert (styled the Emigrant). Robert, the 
youngest, was born in 1607, came over in 1635, and settled in Gloucester 
county, Va. , and married Isabella Warner. His son, John, married Eliza- 
beth Warner, and his son, Maj. John, married Frances Fielding. This third 
John (the major) had four sons: Warner, who married Eleanor Gooche; 
John, who married his first cousin, Anne, daughter of Robert Lewis, of Al- 
bemarle; Col. Fielding Lewis, who married Kate, and subsequently Bettie 
Washington, both his cousins. The grandfather of the subject was Maj. 
Lawrence Lewis, sou of Col. Fielding and Bettie Lewis (wee Washington). 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 717 

Maj. Lawrence Lewis married Eleanor Parke Custis, commonly called 
Milly Custis, the adopted daughter of Gen. Washington, Maj. Lawrence 
being the General's nephew, and principal executor after his death. He 
inherited from his uncle, the General, " Woodlawn, " adjoining Mount Ver- 
non, and lived there du.ring his life. He had only one son, Lorenzo Lewis, 
who married Miss Esther M. Coxe, of Philadelphia, and three daughters were 
born to them: Agnes, who died young; Frances Parke, married to Gen. E. ; 
G. W. Butler, of Louisiana, and Angela, married to Hon. Chas. M. Con- 
rad, of Louisiana, who was President Fillmore's secretary of war. Lorenzo 
Lewis, had six sons: G. W., L. F., J. R. C, E. P. C, C. C. and H. L. D. 
Lewis. G. W., L. F. and C. C. Lewis are dead, leaving J. R C, E. P. C. 
and H. L. D. living. 

J. R. C. Lewis was born in 1834, in the county of Clarke, and was educated 
at Mr. Benjamin Hallowell's school, in Alexandria. He was an officer in 
Commodore Perry's expedition to Japan, afterward an officer of the United 
States revenue service, and resigned to accept service under the Confed- 
eracy. He is now a quiet country farmer of Clarke county, Va. 

E. C. Williams, Sk. , physician, Martinsburg, son of Dr. Edward O. 
and Elizabeth Williams, was born on what is known as the Swan Pond Place, 
Berkeley county, Va., in 1815, and has always been a resident of this section 
of the country. His parents. Dr. Edward O. and wife, were natives of 
Maryland, who came to Jefferson county, Va., about 1770, the husband 
being one of the early physicians of that county. He was thrice married, 
first to Sallie Morgan, who lived only One year after marriage; his second 
wife was Priscilla Beale, of Maryland, and by this union there were three 
children, all of whom are deceased; after his second wife's demise he mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Claggett, and by this marriage there were born two 
children: Dr. E. C, the subject of this sketch, and one deceased. Dr. E. 
O. Williams died at the age of sixty-two years, and his widow at the ad- 
vanced age of seventy-seven years. 

Dr. E. C. Williams was married in 1837 to Sallie, daughter of Thomas 
and Mary Shepherd, of Jefferson county, Va. There have been born to 
them eight children, four of whom are living, viz. : Edward C, Louis M., 
Thomas S. and Mary E. (wife of Abram Shepherd of Jefferson county). Ed- 
ward C. is a druggist in Martinsburg, and married Laura, daughter of 
Levi Henshaw, a farmer of Berkeley county; Louis M., resides in Texas, 
where he was married, and Thomas S. married Anna, daughter of William 
Byers, and is a farmer in this county. Those deceased are Frank C. , who 
died in January, 1889, was a partner in the drug business with his brother, 
E. C. ; Richard H. , died in infancy; Richard C, died in 1861, aged thir- 
teen years; and Millard F., died in 1877, aged twenty-two years. 

Dr. Williams, the subject of this sketch, graduated at the Jefferson 



718 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Medical College in Philadelphia, in 1839, and commenced practice in Berke- 
ley county, where he remained until 1850, when he moved to Shepherds- 
town, JefPerson Co., Va. He superintended his farm near there, and carried 
on a drug store for about eight years, and then returned to Berkeley county, 
where he practiced medicine until 1874. Dr. Williams then retired and 
moved to the county seat, after having practiced thirty years in the country 
and five or six years in Martinsburg. He has been noted for his quiet, 
amiable disposition, as is evidenced by his having lived during the late 
Civil war at Martinsburg, without participating in the strife, and with 
scarcely any molestation. He and wife have sojourned together fifty-two 
years, are both enjoying reasonably good health, and though he is seventy- 
four years of age, many of his old patrons demand his professional services. 

Sqdiee Hackett Martin, Martinsburg, clerk of the circuit court of 
Berkeley county, W. Va. , was born January 18, 1826, in Pottstown, Mont- 
gomery Co., Penn. His grandfather and grandmother are supposed to have 
immigrated to America from England at an early day, settling in New Hamp- 
shire, where their son, Silas D. Martin, father of our subject, was born May 
5, 1792. Silas moved to Pennsylvania and married Catherine Zeiber, of 
Pottstown. The couple removed to Berkeley county, W. Va., in 1839. H^ 
was a distiller, and fairly successful in life. Mr. S. H. Martin, the son of 
Silas and Catherine, received an ordinary education in the common schools, 
and began clerking in the merchandising business in 1840, when about four- 
teen years of age. He was a very apt clerk, and continued in that line for 
himself and others until the commencement of the war. He was in the em- 
ploy of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad until 1878, when he was elected to 
the office of clerk of the circuit court of Berkeley county, which position he 
still fills with credit to himself and his county. He is a member of the Re- 
formed Church, and a republican. Three children have been born to Mr. 
Martin, two of whom are living: Sallie (married Rev. W. C. B. Shulen- 
berger, a Reformed minister), E. Boyd Martin (in the employ of the 
Standard Oil Company, in Kentucky) and Silas D. (who died in 1887). 

J. A. Cox, superintendent of the Martinsburg city schools, and principal 
of the high school, was born in Ohio county, Va. (now W. Va.), May 30, 
1858. His ancestry on his father's side were among the earliest settlers of 
Brooke county, W. Va. ; and, as the name indicates, were of Irish descent; 
on his mother's side he is of German descent. Gabriel Cox emigrated from 
the north branch of the Potomac, and settled in that part of Ohio county, 
Va., which now forms Brooke county, W. Va. , his family consisting of 
three sons and one daughter. The daughter and two of the sons were 
killed by the Indians. Peter was killed near where Brilliant, Ohio, now 
stands; David was killed where Cincinnati stands; the daughter was married 
and living in Ohio, where both she and her husband were killed, at the same 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 719 

time, by the Indians. Israel, great-grandfather of Prof. Cox, alone escaped 
the Indians, married Elizabeth Newkirk, and settled in Brooke county 
W. Va. His family consisted of two sons: Israel and Elzy, and seven 
daughters, most of whom lived to be from seventy to one hundred years of 
age. Israel, grandfather of the subject of our sketch, mai-ried Ruth 
Richardson, spent his entire life in Brooke county, died February 28, 1846, 
aged sixty-eight. His family numbered ten — six sons and four daughters- 
seven of whom still survive, among whom Friend Cox, born November 16, 
1824, is the father of J. A. Cox. Mr. Friend Cox has held office in his 
native county almost continuously for the past twenty years, and is at 
present (1890) president of the county court of Brooke county. Abraham 
Barnes, grandfather of Prof. Cox, was born in Hagerstown, Md., September 
22, 1788, and moved with his parents to Hampshire county, Va. (now W. 
Va.), where he married Susanna Earsom; after living here about twenty 
years he moved to Washington county, Penn., where his wife died. He 
next moved to Brooke county. West Va. , thence to Guernsey county, Ohio, 
returning to Brooke county, where he died December 8, 1871. He was a 
soldier in the war of 1812. His family numbered nine — four sons and five 
daughters — six of whom survive, one of whom, Mary Catharine, born July 
25, 1821, is the mother of Prof. Cox. Friend Cox and Mary C. Barnes 
were married February 23, 1847. To them were born live daughters and 
two sons; two daughters — Martha J. Cox and Sarah S. Cox — and one son, 
the subject of this sketch, survive. 

Prof. J. A. Cox graduated at Bethany College, W. Va., in 1882, with 
the degree of A. B. , taking the lirst honor of his class; received the degree 
of A. M. one year later; is now, as superintendent of the Martinsburg city 
schools, in his eighth year in the profession of teaching; was two years princi- 
pal of the West Liberty State Normal School, at the end of which time the 
students almost unanimously petitioned the state superintendent and board of 
regents for his re- appointment; was principal of the Kingwood Academy five 
months, which position he resigned to take charge of the city schools of Mar- 
tinsburg; was given a letter -of endorsement, signed by all his Kingwood stu- 
dents, by his assistant teachers, and by all the trustees of the school; won a 
first premium in a mathematical contest with 955 competitors, thus becoming 
one of the authors of "The New Arithmetic," published by Eaton, Gibson 
& Co., Buffalo, N. Y. (now D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, Mass.); has written 
considerably on educational and other topics; is the author of a neat little 
pamphlet on arithmetic entitled "Two Hundred Practical Problems," a 
new and enlarged edition of which will soon be published; and is, at present, 
editor of the "Mathematical Column" in the Martinsburg Statesman, 
contributing each week ten original problems, carefully prepared, so as to 
avoid interminate answers, thus giving a full and complete exposition of 
the subject of arithmetic. 



720 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Prof. Cox entered upon the discharge of his duties in Martinsburg 
March 14, 1887, teaching out an unexpired term. At the expiration of this 
term, he was elected for a full session of ten months at a salary of $1,200. 
Since that time he has been twice re-elected. He has organized an excel- 
lent literary society in connection with the high school, his graduates, on 
commencement night, delivering original orations. He has, with the as- 
sistance of Senator C. J. Faulker, and through the co-operation of the board 
of education, laid the foundation of an excellent library in the high school. 
It may not be amiss to say that, under his management, the schools of 
Martinsburg have experienced a season of unparalled prosperity, and that 
they are not surpassed by any schools of a similiar nature in the state of 
West Virginia. The annual commencements of the high school are looked 
forward to with much interest by the citizens of Martinsburg, and that of 
1889 was particularly well conducted, the graduates showing marked pro- 
ficiency in all their studies, thereby reflecting great credit on their principal. 

Dr. Peter Ridings was born in England, in 1775, and married Mary 
Brotherton, who was born in 1778. They came to America in 1800, and 
lived awhile near Winchester, Va. He being a machinist and woolen man- 
ufacturer there, built one of the first woolen factories in the Shen^andoah 
Valley. He then moved near Middletown and built another factory, which 
he ran until too old. Then he practiced medicine for years, and was con- 
sidered one among the best of physicians of his day. To them were born 
twelve children — eleven sons and one daughter. Sarah, married John Bell, 
of England, who was a miller and owned a flour-mill and fine real estate. 
To them were born three children: George, Mary and Peter. George and 
Mary died before their parents, and Peter, during the Civil war, was taken 
from his home about half a mile and shot dead, while on his knees praying? 
by a squad of Union soldiers. His sick wife and babe and five other chil- 
dren were then taken out of the house and the house and contents burned. 
Edwin Brotherton was born in England, in 1798, and died in 1878. fie 
also was a machinist. He bought his father's woolen factory and added 
thereto sawing and grist-mills, all of which were in full operation at the 
time of his death; also owned a considerable amount of real estate, but com- 
menced life comparatively poor. He was a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, but donated ground and partly built a United Brethren 
Church, but did not live to complete it. He was a democrat. In 1824 he 
married Lydia Rhodes, who died in 1826, and to this marriage were born 
Jacob Peter and John William. In 1828 he again married — Susan Painter, 
who died in 1835. Their children were Joseph Robert (a mute), James, 
Sarah A. and George E. He again married in 1885 — Eliza Barrow, who 
survives him, being in her eightieth year, and their children were Mary 
Catharine, Frederic William, Martha Ellen (dead), Charles Atwell (dead) 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 721 

and Walker Hite. Mary C. married Benj. F. Smith, who was born on the 
farm he now owns, which was his father's, formerly owned by Judge John 
McClure, of Bloomington, 111. B. F. is a son of Isaac N. Smith, who 
served six months in the war of 1812, and is of English descent. B. F. 
served four years in the Confederate army, as quartermaster in Company A, 
First Virginia Cavalry, under Gen. J. E. B. Stuart and Fitzhugh Lee. He 
holds no office of note, and in politics is democratic. 

C. W. Doll, clerk of the county court of Berkeley county, was born in 
Martinsburg, in 1820, son of John Doll, whose father was George Doll, a 
carpenter and builder. Mr. Doll, the subject of this brief sketch, was en- 
gaged in merchandising for twenty-five years, but since 1873 has been clerk 
of the county court of Berkeley county, which position he fills with great 
satisfaction to his fellow-citizens. He married Margaret Harlan in 1845, 
and four sons and one daughter have been born to them. 

James B. Streit, merchant, Winchester, was born in Winchester, Va., 
December 30, 1846. His father, William H. Streit, was a merchant of 
Winchester for a number of years, and married Nancy Bell, of that town, 
who bore him eight children, two of whom are living: James B. (the sub- 
ject of this sketch) and Annie M. James B. entered the Bryant & Stratton 
Commercial College, and graduated from that institution in 1867. He was 
married May 14, 1872, to Anna, daughter of Jonas Chamberlain, of Lou- 
doun county, Va. , an early settler of that section. Their family consists of 
four children— two sons and two daughters: Harry B. , Bessie B. , Nancy D. 
and James C. Mr. Streit is a very enterprising, energetic man, and a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church. 

Geor'.e F. Evans, tobacconist, Martinsburg, was born in Berkeley coun- 
ty, February 13, 1848. He is the son of John Turner Evans, a farmer of 
Berkviey county, who died about 1857; Ann C. Dougan, his wife, is still 
livirg. They were the parents of three boys, one of whom is dead; the 
other two are Edwin T., who lives in Arkansas, and George F., the subject 
of this sketch. George Evans, the grandfather of George F., like his son 
and grandson, was also born in Berkeley, and was a farmer. On the pater- 
nal side of the family the Evans are Welsh descent, and on the other, Irish. 
The great- grandparents of Mr. Evans came to Virginia shortly after the 
American Revolution. 

George F. Evans spent his early days on a farm, working in the sum- 
mer and attending school in the winter. He entered the shops of the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, when about sixteen years of age, and learned 
the trade of a machinist, working seven years at that business. He then 
went into the retail tobacco business, but shortly afterward commenced man- 
ufacturing cigars and conducting a wholesale trade, which he has continued 
to the present time. In February, 1881, at a special election, Mr. Evans was 



722 HISTORY OF THE LOWEll SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

elected to represent his county in the legislature of the state, to fill the un- 
expired term of Hon. George Farrell, who died while the legislature was in 
session. He was re-elected at the general election in October, 1883, being 
the first republican elected to the legislature from Berkeley county, after the 
democrats obtained control of the state in 1872. He was appointed post- 
master in 1883, and served until March 1, 1885, resigning of his own voli- 
tion. He was caucus nominee of the republicans in 1884, for speaker of 
the house of delegates, but of course was not elected. He became asso- 
ciated, in 1885, with John T. Riley, in the publication of the Martinsburg 
Herald, which connection still continues. On April 1, 1890, he sold his re- 
tail business to his son, Wilbur, and associated with him his oldest son, 
James F. , in the the wholesale business exclusively in another portion of the 
town. 

Mr. Evans was married in 1869 to Mary E. Matthews, and three chil- 
dren were born to them — two boys and one girl, the latter dying in infancy. 
Mrs. Evans died in 1874, and in June, 1875, he married Julia E. Wall, of 
Winchester, and four children were born to them — three boys and one girl, 
two of the boys being dead. He is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Methodist 
and a republican. 

Theodore Von Ringharz, mining engineer. Middletown, Va. , is a son of 
Count Von Ringharz, and was born in Bavaria in 1850. He received his 
education in the University of Gottingen, in Munich, and passed the state 
examination before the court of the German Empire. He served in the 
Franco-Prussian war as an officer of the cavalry, and on the battle-field of 
Sedan i-eceived three orders of distinction: the "Iron Cross," " Cross of 
Merit," and the "Golden Medal," for bravery. Under the Holland gov- 
ernment, Mr. Von Ringharz superintended the geological survey in the East 
Indies, and under the same government conducted a similar survey of Ice- 
land. In 1877 our subject came to America, and engaged in mining en- 
gineering in Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. At one 
time he was employed in South Africa by the English government. Mr. 
Von Ringharz is now located at " Cedar Lodge," Shenandoah county. He 
was united in marriage to Mary Key Reily, daughter of Maj. Thomas Reily, 
of Washington, also a grandniece of Francis Scott Key, the immortal writer 
of our American anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner." 

J. W. Smellie, farmer, Meadow Mills. One of the most historical farms 
of the Shenandoah Valley is that belonging to J. W. Smellie, who is a na- 
tive of Haddingtonshire, Scotland, where he was born in 1847. He came 
to America in 1869, and purchased, in 1874, the property where he now 
resides, consisting of 618 acres, but which has since been reduced to 316 
acres. This is known as the Belle Grove farm, and was originally part of 
the Hite estate, a tract of over 12,000 acres. In the late war, during the 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGKAPHY. 723 

movements of the Army of the Shenandoah Valley, Gen. Sheridan and his 
staff made their headquarters on this farm. It was the scene of the famous 
battle of Cedar Creek, with Sheridan "fourteen miles away." Mr. Smellie 
is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Episcopal Church. 

James Jackson, retired farmer. This family is of English origin. James 
Jackson, Sr. , was born in eastern Maryland, and married Elizabeth Ro- 
land, also of English lineage. To them were born five children. James 
Jackson was a prominent fai'mer of Clarke county, and there married his 
second wife. He was a reasonably successful man and died at the age of 
sixty-five years. His wife died in her eighty -seventh year. 

At the early age of ten, our subject was left fatherless, and remained 
with his mother on the farm, receiving his education in the schools of Fred- 
erick county. Mr. Jackson has made farming his principal occupation, and 
for eight years he lived in BufPalo Marsh, and in 1840 went to Shenandoah 
county and there engaged in farming until 1869. In 1865 he was elected 
to the house of delegates and remained two years. He has attained promi- 
nence by his faithfulness and care as administrator and executor of many 
estates. He was joined in marriage to Maria Shull, and to this union were 
born the following children: Eliza M., Mrs. Miles of New York City; 
Elizabeth M. , Mrs. Capt. Curhen; Sophia, Mrs. Bell, with her parents; 
James, now engaged in farming and mercantile business; T. J., killed 
during the late war, in the battle of the Wilderness, May 8, 1864; Mary, 
who was married to Mr. Staples of North Carolina; and Albert, deceased. 
Our subject is now a resident of Rockingham county, where he is engaged 
in farming, and owns 160 acres of land, which amount was at one time 
greatly exceeded. For fifty years Mr. Jackson has been a member of the 
Baptist Church, and has served as deacon for a number of years; is a 
democrat in politics. Mr. Jackson held the office of magistrate in this 
county for a number of years. He is a prominent and successful farmer. 

Dr. S. M. Stickley, physician, Stephens City, is a native of Shenandoah 
county, Va. , where he was born December 6, 1852. Levi Stickley, father 
of our subject, was a son of David Stickley, of Grerman ancestry, who, at an 
early day, settled on land in Shenandoah county. He was a very suc- 
cessful, well-to-do citizen, and owned some 1,200 acres of land. Levi 
Stickley married Eliza Dosh, whose father was a German school-teacher. 
The early life of Dr. Stickley was spent on his father's farm, and in ac- 
quiring an education, mostly at the Strasburg Academy, but when twenty- 
three years of age he commenced the study of medicine, Drs. Brown and 
Crawford being his preceptors. He graduated at the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons in Baltimore, Md., in 1879, and commenced the practice of 
his profession in Warren county, where he remained for two years, and in 
July, 1881, located at his present place, where he has since continued. Dr. 
Stickley is a Mason and a democrat. 



724 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Kremer Family. J. C. Kremer is a native of Winchester. He was 
born December 22, 1819, and is the son of Peter and Margaret (Burk) Kre- 
mer, the parents of eight children, but three of whom are now living. 
Peter Kremer was by trade a colorer of yarns, which occupation he fol- 
lowed for many years. He served as constable for the county for 
a number of years. Peter was the son of Conrad, who was a native 
of Germany, and came to America at an early day. He also was a 
dyer of yarns. J. C. Kremer has spent his entire life in his native valley, 
and was a glove manufacturer by trade. He was joined in marriage to 
Henrietta, daughter of John W. Putts, who was a resident of this Valley. 
To them were born ten children, all living: George W. (now engaged in the 
grocery and meat business), Luther, Charles P. (in the grocery business 
with his brother, George W.), Mary, John, Henrietta, Thomas, Harry, Edith 
and William. Mr. Kremer is a democrat, politically. George P. Kremer 
was married in 1877 to Nannie, daughter of John Lamley, and to this union 
were born five children: Bessie, Luther, Frederick, George and Jacob. 
For nine years Mr. Kremer has been engaged in business for himself under 
the firm name of G. W. Kremer & Bro. He is a member of the order of 
Knights of Pythias, and a republican in politics. 

Dr. Samuel McCune, farmer, P. O. Meadow Mills, was born February 
10, 1831, on Turtle creek in the Braddock Fields, Allegheny Co. , Penn. His 
parents were James and Rosana (Graham) McCune, the former a farmer of 
Irish descent, but a native of Pennsylvania. Our subject was the fourth 
child. He received his education in the common schools of Allegheny 
county, and at Dunlap Academy. He studied medicine with Dr. John 
E. Shaffer, of Elizabeth, Allegheny Co. , Penn. , and practiced his profession 
for seven years, after which he engaged in the lumber business on the Sus- 
quehanna river, and ranked among the prominent lumber dealers of that 
region, being very successful in his business career. He was united in 
marriage to Margaret, daughter Of James Gallagher, one of the pioneers of 
Clearfield county, Penn. Eight children were born to them, six of whom are 
living: James G. (attorney at law, at Woodstock, Va.), Bertie, Nellie, Eva, 
Ben and Mary. Dr. McCune is now the possessor of the " Belle View " 
farm, which was originally owned by Hugh Hite, a son of Maj. Hite, and 
contained 600 acres of land. From Hugh Hite this property was purchased 
by Mr. Washington, who sold it to Mr. Leary, and it afterward passed into 
the hands of Messrs. Lacy and Heater, fi'om whom our subject purchased 
367 acres in 1867. During the late war Gen. Custer had his headquarters 
at "Belle View" and camped there. Dr. McCune also owns 1,200 acres 
of land in Shenandoah county. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity 
and a republican. 

S. H. Petrie, merchant, Chambersville, Frederick Co., Va., is a native 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 725 

of New York City, and was born in 1840. In 1884 he came to Vir- 
ginia, located at Chambersville, and began a general merchandise business. 
Mr. Petrie is the present postmaster of Chambersville, and is a member of 
the Presbyterian Church. 

Dk. Isaac Milton Brumback, physician and surgeon, is a native of Fred- 
erick county, Va. , having been born here in September, 1846. He is the son 
of Joseph and Christina (Huffman) Brumback, who were the parents of ten 
children, our subject being the fifth child. His father was a farmer and a 
native of Page county, Va. , who, by perseverance and hard labor, had been 
reasonably successful in business, dying in February, 1874, at the age of 
sixty- three years. Dr. Brumback has spent his entire life in this county, 
his parents having purchased the "old Dr. Carr " farm, of 240 acres, and 
other tracts of land. He was educated at a private school, and at the age 
of twenty-five years commenced the study of medicine. He graduated from 
Richmond College in 1872, and then commenced the practice of his profes- 
sion near his home, where he has continued to the present time. In 3874 
Euphrasia Funkhouser, daughter of Joseph E. Funkhouser, of this county, 
became his wife, and to them were born eight children, six now living: 
Hunter M. , Lela B. , Ada M. , Maud E. , Harman M. and Jessie A. Brum- 
back. In politics Dr. Brumback is a democrat. 

Solomon Heater, deceased, was born in Loudoun county, Va., Septem- 
ber 8, 1808. He was a son of John Philip Heater, who was born July 13, 
1773, and died January 5, 1836, and Elizabeth (Crumbaker) Heater, born 
in 1773 and died in 1825. They were the parents of eight children, of whom 
but one now remains. Solomon was the seventh child. His father was a 
farmer, and both father and mother were natives of Loudoun county, Va. 
He was very successful, having commenced life poor, and gave each of his 
children a farm. Solomon's youth was spent in Loudoun county, and he 
remained with his father until his marriage. He was educated in the 
schools of bis native county. In 1836 he was united in marriage to Caro- 
line H. , daughter of Dr. Henry S., and Mary (Hagy) Wunder, both of 
Pennsylvania. Dr. Wunder died at the age of seventy-four years. He was 
a graduate of the Philadelphia Medical College and was the father of eight 
children. To Mr. and Mrs. Heater were born three children: John Philip, 
who was wounded and died at Patterson's creek, Hampshire Co., \V. Va., 
January 5, 1864, having enlisted in the Seventh Virginia Cavalry; Henry 
S., who was born in 1843, also enlisted in the Seventh Virginia Cavalry, was 
captured at Point of Rocks and died at Fort Delaware in 1865, and Chas. 
W. , the only surviving son. In 1845 Solomon Heater came to this place 
and purchased 324| acres of land, known as "Cedar Grove," belonging to 
the Baldwin heirs, and lived there until his death in 1872. "Cedar 
Grove " has become an historic spot as it was a camping- ground for both arm- 



726 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

ies during the war and was badly damaged at that time. Solomon Heater 
made farming his occupation and was quite successful. His widow, now 
in her seventy-third year, has a remarkable memory and intellect for her 
age. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Heater was a 
member of the Reformed Church and belonged to the democratic party. 

Lafayette Jackson, contractor, Winchester, son of Cornelius B. Jack- 
son, also a contractor and a native of Winchester, was born in 1836. His 
grandfather was Dempsey Jackson, of Warren county. Va. The entire life 
of Mr. Jackson has been spent in this state. At the age of twenty-one years 
he learned the carpenter's trade, and for a number of years was engaged in 
the machine business. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted in the Sec- 
ond Virginia Infantry, but was afterward transferred to the Eleventh Vir- 
ginia Cavalry, where he served three years. At the close of the war he 
settled in Frederick, his native county, moved to Winchester in 1865, where 
he has since pursue4 his occupation, and built many prominent buildings 
in the county. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South 
and a democrat. 

James D. Fayman, postmaster, Shepherdstown, W. Va. , was born July 
25, 1832, in Jefferson county, Va. His grandfather came to this country 
from Germany in 1783, and settled in Mecklenburg (now Shepherdstown). 
He was a hatter. His father, George Fayman, was born in 1790, one of 
eleven children, and succeeded to the business. He was first lieutenant in 
the war of 1812, and died here in 1871. Mr. Fayman was educated in the 
common schools, and served a term at blacksmithing; then moved to Illi- 
nois, and married Miss Margaret linger, of Kaskaskia, November 20, 1853. 
He has eight children living — four boys and four girls — of whom six are 
married. He returned here in 1854, and taught school in Martinsburg 
until the war commenced, when he went to Washington, D. C. From there 
he was sent to W^illiamsport, Md. , to raise recruits. Having aided in rais- 
ing Lamon's brigade, he was appointed first lieutenant, Company B, First 
Regiment Virginia Volunteers of said brigade, but resigned in 1862, and 
went to Shepherdstown to assist in holding election for the admission of the 
counties of Jefferson and Berkeley to West Virginia. He was one of the 
first movers in getting the Shenandoah Valley Railroad to pass through 
Shepherdstown. Mr. Fayman has filled, by appointment, the positions of 
notary public, magistrate, revenue agent and assistant assessor. He has 
been elected mayor, judge of recorder's court, commissioner of chancery 
and deputy clerk of circuit court. He was appointed postmaster of this 
place in 1889. 

Lee H. Moler, farmer, Molers, Jefiferson Co., W. Va. Capt. Moler 
was born at Linden Springs, Jefferson Co., W. Va. , March 12, 1837. His 
ancestor, with two brothers, came to this country from Germany, during 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 727 

the colonial period, one settling in Pennsylvania, and two in Virginia. 
Capt. Moler's ancestor settled in Jefferson county, Va., and the third 
brother settled in Augusta county, Va. The original name was Oler. The 
subject of this sketch was educated at Ben. Hallowell's school, at Alex- 
andria, Va. On the 17th of April, 1861, he joined Company B, Second 
Regiment Virginia Infantry, and went that night to Harper's Ferry; 
served through the war, and returned home May 22, 1865. Mr. Moler 
married Virginia Reinhart, of Jefferson county. He has four boys: Lee, 
Edward, William and John, all living with him. Capt. Moler's great- 
grandfather, on the maternal side, named Samuel Taylor, claimed to be the 
first man who received a patent for land in this section, now Jefferson 
county. The patent is dated 1834. In politics Capt. Moler is a Grover 
Cleveland democrat, and in religion an Episcopalian. 

J. H. Rutherford, farmer, P. O. Winchester, is a grandson of John 
Carter, an Englishman who settled in Pennsylvania, at Brandywine, but 
came to Frederick county, Va. , during the Revolutionary war, on account 
of hostilities at Brandywine, and in 1800 bought what is known as the 
Jones property, about one mile east of Winchester. He was the father of 
seven children: Joseph, John, William, James, Robert, Polly and Sidney. 
Our subject's father came to Frederick county in 1817, from Tennessee, 
and kept a public house at Spout Spring, where Mr. Rutherford was born, 
June 1, 1821. The father died four months after the birth of our subject, 
at the age of twenty-five years. His uncle, John Carter, bought, in 1800, 
what is now known as the Jackson farm, adjoining the farm which Mr. 
Rutherford now owns and upon which he resides. From the age of eleven 
until 1856 he lived with his uncle, John Carter. In May, 1848, he married 
Camilla C. , daughter of William A. Baker, of Winchester, and to them were 
born five children: Estella, William B., Mary Elizabeth, John Carter (now 
dead) and Albert Greenwood. With very little education in the common 
schools and a start of about $6,000, he now owns one farm of 300 acres in 
Frederick county and two in Clarke county; one of 150 acres and one of 
125 acres. He is a democrat politically, a skillful and industrious farmer, 
and a respected citizen. 

M. H. G. Willis, cashier of the Union Bank at Winchester, was born 
in Orange county, Va. , in 1848, and is the son of Rev. E. J. Willis, a 
Baptist minister, who is now a resident of Orange county. Rev. Mr. Willis 
is a graduate in law of the University of Virginia, and in 1849, with his 
wife and children, emigrated to California. He was the first judge at 
Oakland, Cal. , and remained in that state seven years. While there he left 
the bench and entered the ministry, and the first church of Oakland was 
founded by Mr. Willis in his own parlor. He is the son of Larkin Willis, of 
Orange county, Va. , who was a farmer and a son of Isaac, of Culpeper 



728 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

county. Our subject, M. H. G. Willis, received an ordinary education and 
commenced life as a commission merchant in Alexandria, Va. In the fall 
of 1875 he came to Winchester, and in 1871 was married to May C, 
daughter of Isaac Russell, and they became the parents of three children, 
all living: Mary, Eliza and Lucy. Mr. Willis has been cashier of the Union 
Bank of Winchester since May, 1886. He is a member of the Baptist 
Church, a Mason and a democrat. 

Wilson L. Brown, farmer, Winchester, Frederick Co., Va., was born 
in 1822, at what is known as Mulberry Grove farm on Apple Pie Ridge, 
three and one-half miles from Winchester, where he with two sisters, Elisan, 
and Catherine, have lived since birth, together owning the farm of 200 acres. 
They are members of the Society of Friends, as were their ancestors, and 
warm Union people during the war. 

Their great-grandfather, Daniel Brown, a minister in the Society of 
Friends, was born in Chester county, Penn. , and after marriage came to 
Frederick county, Va., in 1774, settling south of Winchester. He died 
December 26, 1790. Their grandfather, Isaac Brown, was born in 1746, 
in Chester county, Penn., and came to Virginia with his parents; lived on 
the Mulberry Grove farm during the Revolutionary war, and died in 1835, 
on the same farm where he entertained some of the exile Friends of Peim- 
sylvania during the Revolutionary war. He married Margaret, daughter of 
Col. John Hite, of Frederick county, and to them one child was born, John. 
His first wife died in 1770, and for his second wife he married Sarah Bal- 
linger, of New Market, Md. , who was born November 8, 1752, and died Decem- 
ber 24, 1842. Their children were William H., Isaac, Samuel, Margaret, 
Esther and Cassandra. William H. Brown, the father of Wilson L. Brown, 
was born in 1779, and died in 1865, on the same Mulberry Grove farm, 
where he always lived, except during the war of 1812. He was a merchant 
at Alexandria, Va. , until the British occupied the town, when he returned 
to the farm. During that war he met with considerable loss financially. 
He married Sarah, a daughter of Lewis and Rachel Neill, of Frederick 
county, who bore him two children, Rachel and Sarah, both deceased. His 
wife having died in 1810, he married Martha, daughter of Thomas and Jane 
(Rees) Wilson, of Frederick county, Va. The children by his second wife 
were Jane C. , Rebecca W., Eliza, Wilson L., Elisan and Catherine, only 
three of whom are living. 

Dr. W. S. Love, physician, Winchester, was born in the city of Armagh, 
Ireland, in 1836, and when but one year old was brovight to America by his 
parents. He is the son of Rev. S. J. Love, a Presbyterian minister, and 
Eliza (Smythe) Love, they being the parents of six children, five of whom 
are living. Rev. Mr. Love located near Staunton, Va., but left this state 
in 1858 and removed to Mississippi. In 1878 he removed to Kansas City, 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGEAPHY. 729 

where he died in 1886. Dr. Love's early days were spent in Augusta 
county, Va. , and he received his education at the University of Virginia and 
the University of Pennsylvania. He commenced the study of medicine in 
1855, and graduated in 1860 in that science from the school last named — 
the University of Pennsylvania. For four years he was a surgeon in the 
Confederate states army, and in 1866 came to Winchester, where he has 
since practiced his profession. He married Elizabeth B. , daughter of the 
late Charles James Faulkner, Sr., of Martinsburg, and they became the par- 
ents of three daughters: Mary Holmes, Elsie and Bessie. Dr. Love is a 
Mason, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and a democrat. 

JanejHott, Cedar Grove, Frederick county, the wife of Jacob F. Hott, 
who was born in 1821, and died August 31, 1864, the son of John and Mar- 
garet Hott. He was brother to Jacob Hott, Sr., who was the father of Da- 
vid F. Hott (see biography of D. F. Hott). Her husband was a minister 
for forty years of the church of the United Brethren in Christ, also a 
farmer and the original owner of the John Hott farm, bought by his father 
in 1776, upon which she now lives. He married Jane Streit, the daughter 
of Charles and Catherine Streit, in 1843. Her father came from Fulton 
county, Penn. , and her mother from Frederick county, Va. Her children 
are: James William (now a bishop of the United Brethren Church of the Pa- 
cific coast, residing at Woodbridge, Cal. , and married to Martha A., daugh- 
ter of Presley Ramey, of Frederick county, Va. ), John Elkanah (a minis- 
ter of "the United Brethren Church, at Staunton, Va. , married to Nettie 
Overholtz, of Lima, Ohio), Ellen F. (now Mrs. Millard F. Keiter, her hus- 
band also being a minister of the United Brethren Church, at Chambers- 
burg, Penn.), Charles Martin (minister of the United Brethren Church at 
Woodbridge, Cal. , married Arbeline C. Eyler, of Maryland), George Peter 
(principal of Shenandoah Institute, at Dayton, Va., married to Carrie R., 
daughter of David Robinson, of Frederick county, Va.), Jacob S. Win ton 
(a merchant at Winchester, married to Ellen, daughter of Michael Fries, of 
Frederick county, Va.), Isabella S. (mari'ied James M. Hott, son of Peter 
Hott, of Frederick county, Va.) and David Otterbien Glossbrenner (died in 
1880). 

David F. Hott, farmer, P. O. White Hall, Frederick Co., Va., was born 
in 1830, in Berkeley county, Va., near Gerrardstown, and lived there until 
forty-five years of age, when he came to Frederick county, Va. , near White 
Hall, where he now resides. He married Rachel A., daughter of Joseph and 
Rebecca Hancher, of Frederick county, Va. Their children were Fannie 
B. (who is now Mrs. Turner Sencindiver, of Frederick county), Ann Re- 
becca (now Mrs. John Randall), Lucy E. , Laura I. , John T. , Emma T. , Arie 
A., David F. and Franklin E. It is believed among members of the Hott 
family that they are direct descendants of Arnold Hott, a Frenchman who 



730 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

was martyred in the seventeenth century, on account of his religious views, 
and the family banished from France. They then went to Germany, and 
finally came to America, settling in Pennsylvania, near York. George Hott, 
the great-great-grandfather of our subject, came to Frederick county, Va. , 
and settled eight miles northwest of Winchester. An old deed in possession 
of Jane Hott, who now owns and resides on the same farm, shows that in 
1776 he bought 230 acres of land of John Painter, for £125. The same 
land has been in the possession of some of the Hott family ever since. 
Further record of the Hott family, is, that George Hott, grandfather of 
David F. Hott, and Eve, his grandmother, farmed the same tract as their 
parents. Their children were George, Samuel, Conrad, John, Peter and 
Jacob. Jacob, father of David F. Hott, was born July 25, 1790, in Fred- 
erick county, Va., on the old Hott farm, and died on March 18, 1856. He 
married Anna, daughter of Michael Fries. He spent forty years of his life 
in Berkeley county, Va., farming. Their children were: Catherine, dead; 
Rebecca, now Mrs. David Ankrum, of Illinois; John, died in Texas; Betsy, 
wife of Harrison Hess, died in Illinois; George, dead; Mary A., now Mrs. 
David Willett, of Berkeley county, AT. Va. ; Anna, wife of John Akins, now 
dead; Eve J., wife of James Rowland, now dead; and David F., who now 
owns the farm of 297 acres, paid for by his own labor, together with a 
farm of 238 acres formerly owned by his father, one-ninth of which came 
by heritage. He is a member of the United Brethren Church and a repub- 
lican. A subordinate farmers' alliance was organized at White Hall, Fred- 
erick Co., Va., February 18, 1890, of which David F. Hott was elected 
president, he being one of the charter members. The number of the alli- 
ance is 765. 

C. M. GiBBENS, city treasurer of Winchester, was born in Winchester, 
June 16, 1839. He is the son of Charles W. Gibbens, who was also a native of 
Winchester, and born February 14, 1816. His grandfather was Cornelius 
Gibbens. Charles W\, at the close of the Civil war, was elected county 
clerk of Frederick county, and served as such till his death, in 1868. Mr. 
Gibbens, our subject, has spent his life in this Valley, and was educated in 
the Winchester Academy and the University of Virginia, having entered the 
last named institution in 1856, and taken the degree of A. M. there in 1860. 
He commenced the study of law in 1865, and practiced for three years. In 
1868, upon the death of his father, he succeeded as county clerk. He was 
elected treasurer of the city of Winchester in 1886, and in 1889 was re- 
elected. He is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Lutheran Church con- 
gregation, and a republican in politics. 

Dr. Clinton Maynard, homoeopathist, Winchester, was born in Mary- 
land in 1845, being the son of Hon. Thomas G. Maynard, who was born 
and reared in Frederick county, Md. Thomas G. was left an orphan when 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 731 

young, and began life by clerking. When twenty years of age he had saved 
enough money to establish himself in the mercantile business in a small way 
in Liberty, Md., and there remained until twenty- eight years of age. Anna 
Sellers, whose father was a major in the Revolutionary war, became his wife, 
and to them were born seven children, of whom Dr. Maynard is the young- 
est. After his marriage, Thomas abandoned his mercantile pursuits and 
commenced farming, and purchased 400 acres of land. His seven children 
all received a liberal education. He is still living in the town, in which he 
first began his business career, and is now eighty-three years of age. Twice 
he represented his district in the legislature. After the death of his wife the 
homestead was sold for the cash price of $30,000. He is a member of the 
Methodist Church South, and a democrat. 

Dr. Clinton Maynard was educated in the common schools and at Calvert 
College (a Catholic institution), where he graduated. In 1870 he began the 
study of medicine, and graduated from the University of Maryland. He began 
practicing his profession in Baltimore, Md. , and in 1880 came to Win- 
chester, since which time he has resided here. He was married to Vir- 
ginia B. , daughter of I. H. Faulkner, of Winchester, and they became 
the parents of one daughter. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, 
and is a democrat. 

Wm. F. Hutchinson, surgeon dentist, was born in Page county, Va. , 
1856, son of Philip and Clarinda Ann Hutchinson. His mother was the 
daughter of Col. A. F. Grayson, lieutenant-colonel of the Ninety- seventh 
Regiment of the line in the Seventh Brigade, Third Division of Virginia 
Militia, being commissioned lieutenant-colonel May 1, 1852; was over sixty 
at the breaking out of the war, but went as volunteer; was division-adjutant 
for some time until captured one night while on leave of absence at his 
home near Marksville, Page Co., Va., by the Federals. He then withdrew from 
the army. His grandfather came to America from Germany in 1732. Philip 
Hutchinson was the son of John Hutchinson, who was killed in Winchester, 
in 1774, by being thrown from a horse. His grandfather came to America as 
a British soldier during the Revolutionary war and never returned after- 
ward. Philip Hutchinson's mother was a sister of Maj. George Grandstaff, 
of Edinburg, Shenandoah county, who was major of volunteers in the war 
of 1812. Wm. F. Hutchinson was educated at the common school of his 
native county. He learned the watch-makers' trade with his grandfather. 
Col. A. F. Grayson, but was compelled to give it up, in 1877, on account of 
his eyes and general health. He then commenced studying dentistry with 
Dr. R. Swartz; went west in 1878. He was sent out from St. Paul as hospi- 
tal steward to the Little Missouri river in May, 1880. The coach bearing the 
troops was the first passenger coach to go over the N. P. R. R., it being 
only finished eighty miles west of Bismarck, D. T. He was second-class 



732 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

hospital steward for five years. He was discharged at Ft. Laramie, Wyoming, 
March, 1883, for expiration of term of service. From there he returned 
to Virginia and resumed the practice of dentistry. He came to Winchester 
in 1887; was married to Miss Rosenberger, of Shenandoah county, Va. , in 
1883. -^..XK^J o'^ 

Dr. Edgar B. Smoke, physician and surgeon. White Hall, Frederick Co., 
Va., was born at Rosedale farm, Frederick county, eight miles north of 
Winchester, March 13, 1846. Dr. Smoke's father, John Smoke, a farmer 
and stock-raiser to a large extent, came to Virginia from Ohio when quite 
young, and married Lucy M. , a daughter of Conrad Krebs, of Winchester, 
Va. , who came from Germany, and located in Winchester about 1779. 
John Smoke died in 1868. An uncle of Dr. Smoke, Brunner Krebs, of 
Illinois, was the father of John Krebs, brigadier-general of the United 
States army, and member of congress from that state; and an aunt, Mrs. 
Aulick, was the mother of the late Dr. Hampton Aulick, of the United 
States navy. Judge Krebs, of Winchester is also a cousin. 

Dr. Smoke read medicine with Dr. Hugh McGuire, of Winchester, Va. , 
who was professor of surgery in the W^inchester Medical College, and 
founder of that institution. He graduated from the Virginia Medical Col- 
lege of Richmond, Va. , in 1868, and since then has met with more than or- 
dinary success in an extensive practice throughout the country. February 
12, 1878, he married Angelina Armstrong, daughter of Joseph E. and 
Sarah Payne, of Frederick county, Va. , the result of this marriage being 
two children living and one dead, viz. : Ethel Payne, Lucy Adella (de- 
ceased) and Edgar Irwin. Dr. Smoke is a member of the Frederick 
County Medical Society, never meddles with politics, but votes the demo- 
cratic ticket, and was brought up in the Methodist faith. 

John M. Miller, farmer, Middletown. Among the prominent and 
energetic citizens of this valley is John M. Miller, who was born in 
Frederick county, Va. , in 1818. He is the son of Joseph Miller, a native 
of Maryland, and grandson of David Miller, who came from Scotland at an 
early day. David was a miller by trade, and followed that occupation in 
Howard county, Md. He was the father of a large family of children, 
of whom Joseph was one of the oldest. A large part of this family 
settled in the west; Joseph and a sister being the only ones who remained 
here. Joseph was born in 1767, and his early life was spent in his native 
county, where he learned the trade of his father. When a young man he 
immigrated to Frederick county, Va., and settled in " BufPalo Marsh," in 
Opequon district, and there purchased a tract of land, and was prominently 
engaged in farming. He was married to Mary Rust, of Westmoreland 
county, Va. , and they became the parents of nine children — six sons and 
three daughters, all of whom grew to maturity: Thomas, Robert, Atwell, 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 733 

Joseph, David, John, Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah. Mr. Joseph Miller led 
a farmer's life, and by his own industrious efPorts won success. 

John M. Miller, our subject, was but five years old when his father 
settled on the homestead farm near Middletown, Va., and was but eighteen 
years of age when he took charge of the farm, and has always made that 
his occupation. He is the only surviving member of Joseph Miller's large 
family. Mr. Miller lost all of his property during the Civil war, but now 
owns 1,150 acres of land in this county and 200 acres in Loudoun county. 
He was joined in marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen Pritchard, 
March 18, 1845, and to them were born four children : John, Thomas, William 
and Anna Mary. Two are now deceased, William and Anna Mary. Mr. 
Miller is a member of the Episcopal Church, and for eight years he was 
president of the Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Society. He is a democrat. 
William H. Myers, farmer, Winchester. The father of this gentleman 
was born in Hampshire county, W. Va., and married Mary, daughter of 
Robert Sherrard, of Irish descent, and a sister of Judge Joseph H. Sher- 
rard of Winchester. The children of this union are Mary S., widow of C. 
L. Bren; Betty B. , now the wife of C. B. Riely, and William H., who was 
born in 1831 in Morgan county, W. Va. He came to Winchester when ten 
years of age, and was educated in the home schools and the old academy. 
In 1857 he married Mary Jane Harman, daughter of John Harman. They 
are the parents of the following children: Mary, now Mrs. J. W. Taylor, 
John H., Henry, Ann Lee, William M., Florence and Elizabeth. Mr. 
Myers was at the capture of old John Brown at Harper's Ferry. He served 
four years in Company C, Twelfth Virginia Regiment Cavalry, Rosser's 
brigade, Confederate army, and was first lieutenant. The farm, 212 acres, 
owned by Mr. Myers, is a part of the original Hackwood farm, upon which 
there are three large natural springs feeding Redbud run. Mr. Myers is a 
member of the Confederate Veteran Association, and is a farmer. 

Capt. J. C. Van Fossen, principal of the city public schools of Win- 
chester, was born in Augusta county, Va., in 1840, and is the son of Jacob 
Van Fossen, also of that county. He was educated at the Washington Col- 
lege, and graduated from that institution in April, 1861, the outbreak of the 
war causing commencement to occur a month or two earlier than usual. In 
the same month he enlisted in the Fourteenth Regiment, Virginia Cavalry, 
and served until the close of the war. He attended the law school at Lex- 
ington, Va., and came to Winchester in 1866, where he took charge of a pri- 
vate school, with which he remained until 1871, since which time he has 
been connected with the public schools of Winchester as principal. Prof. 
Van Fossen married Susan K., daughter of William G. Kiger, of this place. 
He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and a democrat. 

William Newton Eddy, son of William and Mary Nesmith Eddy, was 
born in Frederick county, Va., on the 28th of August, 1830, and died 



734 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

April 8, 1888, aged nearly fifty- eight years. His father, a respectable 
farmer, lived on his own estate near the city of Winchester. 

On attaining his majority, yonng Eddy served a time in acquiring the 
art of a practical miller. Subsequently he devoted himself with great en- 
ergy, and considerable success, to the chosen business of his life. His mill 
shared the common fate of such properties in the Valley during the Civil 
war. It was consumed, as a war measure, by Federal troops. Promptly on 
the return of peace, the mill was rebuilt. Mr. Wm. B. Baker, of the firm 
of Baker & Co., was taken as financial partner, and for several years the 
business was very successfully conducted. 

Some fifteen years ago Mr. Eddy came to reside in Winchester. He pur- 
chased a residence, and built a store-room and warehouse, adding a general 
merchandising to his milling enterprise. 

In 1856 he married Miss Mary E., the estimable daughter of Benjamin 
and Elizabeth Orndorf Williams, a woolen manufacturer, near Winchester. 
To this union were Ijorn three daughters, two only of whom survive him, 
viz. : Mrs. Cunningham and Mrs. McKinster, whose husbands succeed Mr. 
Eddy in the milling and mercantile business, respectively. For integrity of 
character and moral worth, he rated exceptionally high in the community 
generally, and in the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of which he was 
a valued member. 

Daniel Janney, physician, Welltown, is a native of Loudoun county, 
and was born in 1827. He is a son of Dr. Daniel Janney, who was a son 
of Israel Janney, also of Virginia. Israel was twice married, his first wife 
being Pleasant Hague, and his second, Anna Plummer. Daniel, the father of 
our subject, was a son of the second wife. He practiced his profession in 
Loudoun county, and died at the age of seventy- seven years, and was a 
highly esteemed and prominent physician. He was the father of twelve 
children, of whom six are now living. Two sons were in the Civil 
war. His wife was Elizabeth Haines, of Jefferson county. The Haines 
were among the original settlers of the Lower Valley, coming to that section 
at so early a date that they had at one time to flee back to the eastern settle- 
ments in consequence of the incursions of the Indians. 

Dr. Janney, the subject of this sketch, spent his early days in his native 
county. In 1850 he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He 
studied medicine under his father, and has practiced his profession for the 
past twenty- four years in this place. He was wedded to Lucy Ann, daugh- 
ter of W^arner McKown. The result of this union was five children, three 
of whom are now living: Dr. John E., Dr. Warner M. and Anna M. Dr. 
Janney is a member of the Christian or Disciples Church and is a democrat. 

AV. L. Evans, one of the firm of H. Evans & Bros., wholesale tobacco 
merchants, Winchester, Va. , was born in that city, and was one of eight 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGEAPHY. 735 

children of David Evans and Susan (May) Evans. The father, David, was 
a native of South Wales, having been born in Cardiganshire, and the 
mother was bom in Frederick county, Va. In 1865 Messrs. Henry, E. J. 
and W. L. Evans engaged in the wholesale tobacco business, which firm 
continues to the present time. Their business from the start was an as- 
sured success, and at present extends over a considerable portion of Virginia, 
West Virginia and Maryland. Mr. W. L. Evans was a member of Com- 
pany A, Fifth Virginia Infantry, Stonewall brigade, Jackson's Division, C. 
S. A., from the beginning of the Civil war to its close. He was captured 
at the battle of Spottsylvania Court House with Johnson's division, and was 
a prisoner of war at Fort Delaware for thirteen months, at the end of 
which time, June, 1865, after the surrender of Lee's army, he was re- 
leased upon taking " the oath. " 

U. S. Grant Pitzer, lawyer, Martinsburg, was born seven miles west of 
Martinsburg, Berkeley Co. , W. Va. , July 10, 1865. He is the third son of 
J. W. Pitzer, Esq. , who served as sheriff during the six years immediately 
following the war. At the age of sixteen years he left the grammar school 
and began an apprenticeship as a compositor in the Statesman office. Next 
he entered the Independent office, where he worked four years, and finally, 
in 1886, became assistant editor and business manager. While. still in this 
office, he commenced the study of law at night, with Hon. J. N. Wisuer. 
In 1888 he finished the two years' law course of the West Virginia Univer- 
sity in one year, graduating with honor. Judge Duckwall admitted him to 
practice at Martinsburg, September 15, 1889, and during the same month he 
was admitted to practice in the United States district and circuit courts. As a 
lawyer, he is careful, well read and pushing, and has a good practice. Mr. Pit- 
zer is well known in literai'y circles, contributing to the Detroit BYee Press, 
Cincinnati Enquirer, Wheeling Register, and other papers. While at the 
West Virginia University, he established the Athenceum, which has ever 
since been the university magazine. A paper on " Free Notices — their Use 
and Abuse," prepared by him for the July, 1889, meeting of the West Vir- 
ginia Press Association, created an animated discussion, and was ordered to 
be printed in pamphlet form. His career in politics has been remarkable 
for one so young. He stumped Berkeley county for Blaine and Logan, 
while 3'et in his teens. In 1885 he organized the '"Sherman Invincibles," 
which, at present, is one of the most active clubs in the state, and was six 
times elected its president. September 10, 1886, he was elected chairman 
of the Second Congressional District committee. With 1,500 majority to 
overcome, he conducted a campaign of aggressiveness, and had the pleasure 
of seeing his candidate, Hon. W. H. H. Flick, come within ninety-nine votes 
of being elected. At the republican state convention held at Charleston, 
September, 1888, he was elected secretary. Returning home, he began a 



736 HISTORY Of THE LOWEE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

campaign of active work, making eighteen speeches in Berkeley, Morgan 
and JefPerson counties. In November he was sent into Monongalia and 
Preston counties, and addressed large audiences. No man in Berkeley 
county did better work. He is a fluent orator, forcible and correct. The 
Columbian Literary Society, of the West Virginia University, elected him 
its orator for the commencement exercises, June 10, 1888. Collector of In- 
ternal Revenue White appointed him gauger, at a salary of $1,200 a year, in 
July, 1889, and his name was favorably mentioned in connection with the 
Port Hope consulship. Mr. Pitzer has warm friends all over the state. He 
is loyal to a friend, and fair, but relentless, to an enemy. No young man 
has a brighter future before him, and at home he commands respect, and 
has the esteem of the people, regardless of politics. 

David W. Bkanson, farmer. Clear Brook, Frederick county. Mr. Bran- 
son's paternal grandfather, Abraham Branson, was the son of William and 
Elizabeth Branson, and was born in Stafford county, Va., October 12, 1754. 
October 22, 1779, he was married to Catherine Reese, daughter of Henry 
and Martha Reese, of Frederick county, Va. , and settled soon afterward on 
the farm on which Mr. Branson now lives and owns, which had come to his 
grandfather's first wife by inheritance, her parents being both deceased 
when she married. The issue of this marriage was one son, Reese Bran- 
son, whose mother died when he was quite young; he became heir to the 
estate of his mother, his father having a life interest in it. January 12, 1786, 
Abraham Branson married his seco'nd wife, Sarah, daughter of Nathaniel 
and Mary White, of Frederick county, Va. The issue of this marriage was 
one daughter, Mary, who married Joseph Fawcett (both now deceased), but 
who lived in Frederick county, nine miles southwest of Winchester; and six 
sons, William, Nathaniel, Isaac, Thomas, Joseph and Benjamin. William 
married Frances E. Hale, who died and left one child, Sarah Ann, who 
married Albert Chandler of Montgomery county, Md. Nathaniel and Ben- 
jamin died young. Isaac married Sarah Bracken, of Ohio. Thomas mar- 
ried Annie Vale, also of Ohio, and both moved there to live. Thomas ended 
his days in this state, dying in his eighty-second year. Isaac removed to 
Iowa first, and then to Kansas and died there in his eighty-third year. Mr. 
Branson's father, Joseph, fifth son of Abraham and Sarah Branson, was 
born (in the house in which Mr. Branson now lives and which belongs to 
him) on January 1, 1796, he /Joseph) having inherited the home farm as 
part of his father' s estate. It seems proper to state here (as reference has 
been made to Reese Branson having inherited this property from his mother), 
that when he, Reese, grew up, having learned the trade of a silversmith, he 
desired to sell his interest in the home estate, but as his father had a life in- 
terest in it and had been making considerable improvements thereon, and 
having a young family around him, he proposed to his son Reese, to become 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 737 

a purchaser, and told him he would give him as much for it as any one else 
would, and in 1809 his father became the real owner of the home farm, 
and as before stated, willed it to his son Joseph. He, Joseph, married Tacy, 
daughter of Jonathan and Hannah Wright, of Applepie Ridge, Frederick 
Co., Va., April 11, 1827. The issue of this marriage was four sons and 
one daughter, who were born in the following order: Nathaniel B., May 
1, 1828; David W., our subject, Sept. 28, 1830; Ruth Hannah, October 24, 
1833; Phineas A., March 23, 1836, and Jonathan W., May 16, 1841. Na- 
thaniel B. married Nancy, daughter of Elijah and Elizabeth Holmes, of 
Loudoun county, Va., December 11, 1856. They now reside on a farm ad- 
joining Mr. Branson's, bought by Mr. Branson's father of Isaac Walker, 
and have two children, viz. : Joseph H. and Mary E. 

David W. , our subject, married Ann, daughter of William E. and Sarah 
Bailey, of London Grove, Chester Co., Penn., January 18, 1866. They 
now reside on the home farm, in the old mansion house. They had two 
children: William E. and Elizabeth A. The latter died at three years of 
age. Ruth Hannah married Samuel H. , son of Joshua and Mary Matthews, 
of Baltimore, Md., September 11, 1860. They now reside on a farm in 
Harford county, Md., and they have three children, viz. : Tacy B., Joshua 
H. and Mary M. 

Phineas A. married Mary Lang, of Pittsburgh, Penn. They are both 
deceased and left no children. Jonathan W. married E. Caroline, daughter 
of Edward L. and Elizabeth R. Cunningham, of Harford county, Md., 
March 5, 1867. They now reside on a farm which was originally part of 
the home farm and have two children: Tacy and Lillian. Mr. Branson's 
father, Joseph Branson, was born, lived and died (in his eighty-third year) 
in the same house. His mother, Tacy Branson, nee Wright, was a descend- 
ant of the Ridgways who were among the earliest settlers in Berkeley 
county, Va. Her mother, Hannah Wright, nee Ridgway, was the daughter 
of Richard Ridgway, who, it is supposed, came from New Jersey. Mr. 
Branson's mother had four brothers, three of whom settled in Frederick 
county, one of them living in Winchester at the time of the Civil war; one 
of his daughters, Rebecca M., is spoken of in Gen. Sheridan's personal 
memoirs as having rendered great service to the Union cause. As the Bran- 
son ancestors as far back as known were members of the religious Society of 
Friends, called in derision Quakers, they never took an active part in poli- 
tics, nor sought the profits and honors of office. They were mostly farm- 
ers, and as a general thing successful ones. All who were living at the time 
of the late war were friendly to the Union cause, but being Friends, and 
professed followers of the Prince of Peace, they took no active part on 
either side, believing that all wars are contrary to Christian principles. Mr. 
Branson being situated on the Winchester and Martinsburg turnpike, which 

45 



738 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

was one of the main thoroughfares of the contending armies, lost a great 
deal of property, neither side showing any regard for private rights. From 
an estimate made at the time, $5,000 would not more than cover the losses, 
in horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, grain and hay, taken for army uses. 

John Diffendekfer, retired contractor, Winchester, was born in Berke- 
ley county, Va. , March 1, 1812, and is the son of George and Mary (Waif) 
DifFenderfer, both of Lancaster county, Penn. Nine children were born 
to them, three of whom died young. George Diffenderfer, with his wife 
and one child, came to Virginia, and settled in Berkeley county, where his 
six children grew to maturity. He followed farming throughout his life. 
John, the youngest of the nine children, spent his early life in Berkeley 
county until twenty-one years of age. When eighteen years old he began 
the carpentering trade, and served until he attained his majority. For 
forty years he followed his trade, together with contracting. In 1836 he 
was wedded to Eliza, daughter of James Harry, of Frederick county, whose 
parents came from Pennsylvania, and to them were born five children, four 
living, Avhose names are John, Edward, Phillip and McKim. Mr. DiflPen- 
derfer has by his own efforts been reasonably successful. Is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and independent in politics. John, Jr. , 
named above, was married to Emily, daughter of Frederick Glenn, an old 
resident of Winchester, and they became the parents of two children, Harry, 
deceased, and Blanche. He (John, Jr.), is a builder and contractor and 
aided his father in building some of the finest residences of Winchester. 
Edward H. , also a son of John, Sr. , was born in Frederick county, in 1844. 
He received his education in Winchester, is an architect, contractor and 
builder by profession, and under his direction and management were built 
the public school building, Hyde Institute, and other fine buildings. He 
was the architect, also, of the passenger and freight depots of the Cumber- 
land Valley Railroad. In 1866 he was married to Catherine, daughter of 
George McCann, and to them were born three children, Maud, Harrold, 
and Nellie. He has been a member of the city council and captain of the 
Union Fire company; is a republican. 

George Glass, deputy clerk of the circuit and county courts, Berry ville, 
son of Lewis and Mary (McCormick) Glass was born in Clarke county, Va. , 
of which he has always been a resident. He has been thrice married, first 
to Miss Pattie A. Lynch, near Petersburg, Va. , and next to Miss Rebecca B. 
Talbott, of Baltimore county, Md. (and sister of the Hon. J. Fred C. 
Talbott, late a member of Congress, from Baltimore county), and by this 
marriage there is one child, a son, Edward T. His next marriage was to 
Miss Kate Baker, of Shepherdstown, W. Va. Mr. Glass has served six 
years and five months as clerk of the county and circuit courts of Clarke 
county, and about fourteen years and six months as deputy, and is at pres- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 739 

ent deputy clerk of the same. Like the Glass family for many generations 
back, he is thoroughly devoted to the Presbyterian Church, and has been a 
ruling elder in said church since September 13, 1874, and it is but justice 
to say of Mr. Glass that there is probably no man in Clarke county who en- 
joys the confidence and respect of his fellow- citizens to a greater extent 
than he. 

The first of the family that came to this country was Samuel Glass and 
Mary Gamble, his wife, who immigrated to America from near Banbridge, 
County Down, Ireland, and settled on the Opequon, in what is now Fred- 
erick county, Va. , in 1736, where he purchased 1,600 acres of land for him- 
self and children. His wife often spoke of her two fair brothers who per- 
ished in the siege of Derry. Mr. Glass lived like a patriarch with his de- 
scendants, devout in spirit and of good report in religion. In the absence 
of a regular pastor he visited the sick, to counsel, to instruct and to pray. 
The Opequon settlement was entirely Presbyterian. Mr. Glass had six chil- 
dren, all born in Ireland, and several married there before coming to this 
country. Their descendants are to be found in Virginia, North Carolina, 
Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Indiana. Robert, his fifth child, married 
Elizabeth Fulton. They lived and died in Frederick county, Va. , and they 
had thirteen children. Samuel, their eldest son, was the grandfather of Wm. 
W. Glass, of Winchester, Va., who is the owner of Rose Hill, his grand- 
father's home. Robert David, his tenth child, married Elizabeth Rust and 
settled at "Long Meadows," now in the possession of Robt. P. Glass, his 
grandson. His house was a fort during Braddock's war, but was not 
troubled by the Indians. The fort now forms a part of the present dwell- 
ing house. He used to tell his son, Robt. J. Glass, that he helped to cut 
the trees for a road through the ground now occupied by Winchester. Ann, 
their seventh child, married Wm. Vance, and after his death she married 
Robt. Gray, of Winchester, Va. She has one son living, Wm. Hill Gray, 
the venerable father of Capt. Wm. N. McDonald's wife. James Vance, the 
twelfth son of Robert, married Elizabeth Sowers, and they had two children, 
Lewis F. , who married Mary McCormick. He was the father of the family 
now living in Clarke county. Elizabeth, who married Wm. N. Thompson, 
of Hampshire county, Va. Their children now reside in Florida. Joseph 
Glass, grandson of Samuel, was a Presbyterian minister, who preached for 
a number of years at Gerrardstown and Back Creek, in Berkeley county, 
W. Va. He married Ann McAlister, of Hampshire county, W. Va. They 
had ten children. Some of his grandchildren are now living in Frederick 
county, Va. : the children of the late James Carr Baker, one of whom is 
the wife of Mr. Thos. K. Cartmell, clerk of the county court of Frederick 
county, Va. ; another granddaughter is the wife of Judge Jas. D. Arm- 
strong, of Romney, W. Va. , and daughter of the late Rev. Wm. H. Foote, 
D. D. of the Presbyterian Church at Romney, W. Va. 



740 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

LuPTON Family. Joseph Lupton, a member of the Society of Friends, 
came from England to America (time unknown), and settled first in Penn- 
sylvania. About the year 1740 he and a brother came to the Valley of Vir- 
ginia, which was then an unbroken wilderness (leaving their families in 
Pennsylvania). They spent one year in the Valley, and passed the first winter 
in a hut built under a fallen tree; the next summer they built a log cabin 
near a large spring on the edge of a small prairie, two miles west of Win- 
chester, the county seat of Frederick. After this they both returned to 
Pennsylvania. The next year Joseph returned to Virginia, bringing his 
family, which consisted of a wife and eight children, with him, and took 
possession of the cabin previously built. Joseph was then a man about 
fifty years of age, and from him sprang all the Luptons (and they are many) 
in this section of the country. They have been chiefly agriculturists, and 
took a lively interest in all public enterprises, but engaging little in politics 
beyond exercising the right of franchise, which they were always careful to 
do. The spring on Joseph's place was on the war path of the aborigines, 
and many a war dance was had there, but the family was never molested 
by the Indians. The place where Joseph settled is still owned by some of 
his descendants, having never passed out of the family. 

John Lupton, fifth child of Joseph, was born in 1725, being about 
fifteen years old when he came to Virginia with his father. John Lupton 
married Sarah Frost, who bore him seven children. Joshua, the first-born 
son of John, inherited the farm of his father, on which he lived and died 
at the age of eighty-six. Joshua married Lydia Rees, who bore him three 
children: Amos, John and Sarah. John married Margaret Smith, Amos 
married Hannah Janney, and Sarah was married to Patrick Smith. After 
the death of his first wife John Lupton married Mrs. Ann Rees, who bore 
him two children: Elizabeth and Jonah. Elizabeth was married to Joseph 
Carter, and was the mother of three children. Jonah married Mary Smith, 
who bore him seven children: Margaret, Sarah, Thomas, Mary, John, 
Millicent and Jonah, all of whom, except Sarah, are yet living. Margaret 
and Millicent were married to two sons of James Gather. Sarah and Mary 
were married to two sons of John Simpson, of Loudoun county. Thomas 
married Mary, daughter of Amos, son of Joshua Lupton. John married Mar- 
garet, daughter of Patrick Smith, and Jonah married Julia, daughter of 
Rev. John McCloskey, of Pennsylvania. Thomas and John are farmers, and 
Jonah is a minister of the gospel, and is in Tennessee. Thomas and John 
own the land where Joseph first settled. Margaret was the mother of ten 
children, eight of whom are living. Sarah was the mother of eight chil- 
dren, six of whom are living. Mary was the mother of five children, 
four of whom are living. Millicent had no child. To Thomas has been 
born two children: Jonah and Alice. Jonah is dead, and Alice is the wife 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 741 

of Rev. William Woods, of Baltimore, and is the mother of five children, 
three of whom are living. John is the father of five children, four of whom 
are living. Jonah is the father of ten children, eight of whom are living. 
The Smiths were of the fifth generation fi-om Charles I. , of Scotland, and 
came to America from the North of Ireland in the year 1799, when Mary, 
who became the wife of Jonah Lupton, was eight years old. They settled 
first in Alexandria, Va., and afterward came to the Valley of Virginia. 

Charles H. Miller, sherifp, Berkeley county, was born in 1852, at Ger- 
radstown, Berkeley Co., W. Va. , son of William S. Miller, a farmer and 
fruit-grower, who was born December 9, 1819, and whose wife was Isabella 
McKown, daughter of John McKown. They became the parents of twelve 
children — nine boys and three girls — all of whom are living except one of 
the boys. Charles H., our subject, is the eldest. 

The Miller family of this region is one of the oldest, three brothers, 
George, James William and Smith, having come to Berkeley county soon 
after the Revolution, and purchased large tracts of land. They settled in 
the southwestern portion of the county, and, in addition to being large 
farmers, were engaged extensively in teaming from Baltimore to the west- 
ern country. William S. Miller was the son of William, one of the four 
named above, and beside farming, entered into fruit-raising, having an 
experimental orchard. He had at one time 100 different varieties of apples, 
and an equal number of varieties of peaches and pears, also about forty 
varieties of grapes. These experiments resulted in the discovery of the 
adaptation of varieties peculiar to this section, thereby being the means of 
introducing much improved fruit, and fruit, too, that would produce well, 
and that would thrive where the majority of northern varieties would event- 
ually die out in consequence of non- adaptability of soil and climate. 

Charles H. Miller, the subject of this sketch, was educated at a select 
school at Gerrardstown, and commenced life as a farmer and nurseryman. 
Mr. Miller has always been an active republican, following in the footsteps 
of his father, who was an original abolitionist, and who practiced what he 
so fervently advocated, having manumitted several of his own valuable 
slaves. Mr. Miller (subject) was elected assessor of the second district in 
1884, and sheriff in 1888, which position he still fills. 

William Vanmeter Green, farmer, Berryville, Va. , was born March 20, 
1842, at Front Royal, Va. , son of Charles Henry Green, who was born in 
Prince William county, Va., near Brentsville, and died in 1862, at the age 
of fifty-two. He lost his father at an early age, and, although having a very 
limited education, supported his mother and six younger children. He was 
a tanner by trade, and very successful, owning a large estate at his death. 
He was a good man, kind to his neighbors, favoring them in various ways. 
He married Rebecca Lane, a daughter of William and Catherine (Vanmeter) 



742 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Lane, of Warren county, and one of their children living is Laura, wife of 
Dr. J. Willette Leach, of Prince William county, Va. This wife having 
died, he married Angemima Cunningham, of Hardy county, and four of 
their children are now living: Kate S. (now the wife of John Paul, judge of 
the United States district court, of Harrisonburg), F. Welton (farming in 
Ohio), Jennie S. (now Mrs. Winter Kogers) and W. Seymour (attorney at 
law, in Missouri). He married a third time, the lady being Eloisa Castle- 
man, daughter of William Castleman, of Clarke county. He was a leading 
man in Warren county, and for a number of years served as a magistrate. 
Politically he was a democrat. 

William Vanmeter Green, the subject of this sketch, is a grandson of 
William Green, who was born in Prince William county, Va. , and who had 
several brothers, who settled in different parts of the Piedmont section of 
Virginia; they were of Scotch-Irish descent. Our subject, when fourteen 
years of age, engaged as a clerk for William M. and J. N. Buck, of Front 
Royal, for two years, after which he attended school for some time. He 
went to Missouri, and clerked for two years for his uncle, George R. Green, 
but in 1862 returned and enlisted in the Confederate army, as a cavalryman, 
serving to the close of the war. 

After the war he came to where he now lives, one mile north of Berry- 
ville. He owns a fine farm of 220 acres, known as Prospect Hill, and is a 
progressive farmer. In 1875 he married Virginia Castleman, daughter of 
Charles D. and Maria (Isler) Castleman, of Berryville, and their children 
are Rebecca, William Reynolds and Robert. Mr. Green is a member of the 
Episcopal Church, and a democrat. 

Geohge W. Wynkoop, farmer, P. O. Berryville, Clarke Co., Va. , son 
of Richard A. and Mary F. Wynkoop, was born in Loudoun county, 
Va. , in 1835. His parents were natives of that county, and had eleven 
children, eight of whom are living: Albert J., John W., James M. , Thomas 
H., Eliza J., Catherine E., wife of Samuel T. Wynkoop, of Loudoun county, 
Mary F. , Hannah A., wife of the Rev. James H. Boyd, of Roanoke, Va. 
Those dead are: Martha E., wife of Samuel E. Boyd of Clarke county, Va., 
and Richard who was wounded while in the Confederate service, but died 
some months after of consumption. Their father died in 1867, at the age 
of sixty- five years, and their mother is still living at the age of seventy- 
eight years. 

Geoi'ge W. was married in 1861, to Susan A., daughter of Benjamin 
and Mary Saunders, of Loudoun county, Va. , and by this union there have 
been born to them ten children, four of whom died within eight days, of 
diphtheria. Those living are: Mary F. (wife of Benjamin B. Parker), 
George W., William A., Charles T., Herbert M., and Norman B. Mr. 
Wynkoop learned the stone-mason's trade, which he followed till about fif- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 743 

teen years ago, since which time he has been engaged in farming. In 
August, 1878, he purchased the farm where he resides, of 206|^ acres, upon 
which he has built an elegant brick dwelling and other good substantial 
buildings. During the war he enlisted in the Sixth Virginia Cavalry, in 
which he served ten months and was discharged on account of wounds re- 
ceived, and from which he has never fully recovered. Mr. Wynkoop is 
well known for his untiring industry. After his return from the army, 
pierced with a bullet in his breast and his right arm in a sling, he cut off a 
small field of corn with his left hand and built a pair of stills, with a chim- 
ney twenty-five feet high, all with his left hand, and thus by his persever- 
ance and industry he has risen from very humble circumstances to that of 
competency. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. 

Willis H. Hollis, physician, Mountain Falls. The grandfather of 
Willis H. Hollis was born four miles from Liverpool, England, and came to 
this country in 1815, settling in Darkeville, Berkeley county, where his 
only son (the father of Willis H.) was born and educated, and where he 
married Sarah J. Denny in 1851, afterward settling in Gerrardstown. 
Their family consisted of the following children: Carson W., Clinton, Willis 
H., Joseph, Marion, and Florence Eugene (wife of J. B. Emmons); she was 
killed by a runaway horse in October, 1886, leaving a young son, Eugene. 
Joseph W. died in April, 1888, and his wife in October, 1886. Willis 
H., the subject of this sketch, born in July, 1856, at the old homestead at 
Gerrardstown, Berkeley Co., AV. Va. , and at fourteen years of age went to 
the University of Virginia, and graduated at nineteen years. After two 
years in the drug business he entered the University of Maryland, where, 
after one year, he was made assistant resident physician and the following 
year graduated in medicine and became resident physician, which position he 
held a year and then went, in 1876, to Bayview Asylum, under the same 
appointment. In September, 1877, he came to Frederick county, where 
he has since resided. 

Mrs. William A. Castleman, proprietress of the Virginia Hotel, Berry - 
ville, Clarke Co. , Va. William A. Castleman, the deceased husband of the 
lady whose name heads this sketch, was a great-grandson of David Castle- 
man, his father and grandfather being both named William. The former 
married Miss Ury Shepherd, both being natives and life-long residents of 
Frederick county, Va. William A. Castleman was born in Frederick county, 
Va. , in 1813. He had two brothers, William and Robert, the latter an 
Episcopal minister, and about the close of the war he was killed, in Clarks- 
burg, W. Va. Their father, William Castleman, died April 30, 1842, at 
the age of fifty-five years, and his widow the following March. William A. 
Castleman was twice married, first, May 23, 1837, to Margaret A., daughter 
of Joseph and Amelia Shepherd, and by this marriage there were three 



744 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

children: Francis E., Amelia C. and William A. The last named was killed 
at the battle of Sharpsburg, Md., September 17, 1862, at the age of twenty 
years. Their mother died March 24, 1843. Mr. Castleman was next mar- 
ried April 30, 1844, to Ann R. , daughter of Abram and Susan (Cloud) Isler, 
of Jefferson county, Va. , and to this marriage there were born eleven chil- 
dren, seven of whom are living: Thomas B. , Nannie S., Kate, Frank N., 
Maggie, Douglas and Jessie. Mr. Castleman was a farmer and an enter- 
prising citizen. He was for many years deputy sheriff of Frederick county, 
Va., and died January 21, 1884. 

N. J. Morgan, minister, Highview, is a son of William Morgan, who was 
born in Lexington, Ky . , and Martha (Reeder) Morgan, a daughter of Benj - 
amin Reeder, who lived on what is called Gooney Manor, in Warren county, 
Va. , they having a family of four children : William Morgan, now living in 
McMinnville, Warren Co., Tenn; Nancy, wife of Joel Garrison, who died 
May 23, 1889, having removed to Winchester, Va. ; and Lydia Ann Miller, 
the eldest daughter, who is living in Winchester. 

Elder Morgan, the subject of this sketch, was born March 16, 1824, at 
Lexington, Ky. , and went with his father in childhood, to Tennessee, where 
he attended the district schools, but getting only a limited education until 
reaching manhood, when he completed his studies by books of his own 
selection. He went to Warren county, Va. , in 1856, being an evangelist 
(independent), and there married, in 1859, Sarah Frances Rudacille. After 
his marriage he continued his ministerial work for six years before locating, 
but finally settled in Winchester, Va. , in 1873, remaining there fifteen years, 
and then purchased the Mount View farm, of 134 acres, which he occupies 
as his homestead. At Winchester he established the "House of the Breth- 
ren, ' ' where the association for the promotion of Christian knowledge had 
its inception, through his instrumentality, as an auxilary to the Church of 
God. Where he now resides is in the midst of one of the first congregations 
established in the Valley of Virginia, as general elder of the Church of God 
in the United States and Canada. Such was his Scriptural convictions of 
Christian character that he refused to take any part in the Civil war of this 
country. This caused him to go through quite an ordeal with the military 
element of that day. He threw his life on the altar as a sacrifice for his 
honest convictions of truth. Such as in his own words, ''that a true Christian 
could not be a sectionalist. ' ' For the saints of the most high will in the 
great and notable day of the Lord come from the east and the west, the 
north and the south, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the 
Kingdom of God. Such were his weighty and convincing arguments before 
the civil law making power, or the court of appeals, that a decision was 
rendered in his favor as a representative of the Church of God, who cher- 
isheth the same principles, which he holds so sacred, and was put to record 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGKAPHY. 745 

on the civil docket of Virginia, for him and all of like precious faith in all 
time memorial. 

John M. Coyle, son of Jam.es T. and Elizabeth (Howard) Coyle, was 
born in JefPerson county, Va. , in 1804. His grandfather came with his two 
brothers from Ireland to this country at a very early date, his brothers 
settling in Pennsylvania and he in this county, where he remained during 
life. He and wife died leaving two sons, one settled in Ohio and it is not 
known what became of him. His son, James T., married Elizabeth Howard, of 
this county, and they reared a family of ten children, only two of whom are 
living: Edward, now ninety years of age, and John M. James T. was a 
successful farmer, a man of sterling integrity, and he and wife were zealous 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church; the former died about 1842 
at the age of eighty-four years, and the latter some years previous. 

Their son, John M. Coyle, has been twice married, first in 1835 to Julia 
E. Bannon of this county, who died in 1849 at the age of thirty-one years; 
she was a devoted Christian and a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. He was next married in August, 1856, to Albina S. Crow, daughter of 
William and Mary (McCartney) Crow. Mr. Coyle had no children by either 
marriage. He was reared on a farm, but in 1836 he engaged in the 
woolen business, and operated quite an extensive woolen factory until 1849, 
when he purchased a farm in Frederick county, Va., which he sold in 1852 
and settled in Charlestown, .where he has since resided. He has always 
been an active, economical, prudent and successful business man. Though 
farming has been his principal business through life, he has engaged in 
various other pursuits for short periods of time. Prior to the late war he 
was a contractor and builder for the United States government, and was 
engaged in putting up government buildings at Harper's Ferry at the time 
John Brown took possession of the town, and was one of the grand jurors 
that found a bill of indictment against Brown and his men. Although 
eighty-six years of age Col. Coyle is hale and hearty, and able to look after 
his farm of some 1,200 acres, as well as to attend to other business interests. 

James T. McElwee, farmer and merchant, Rosenberger, is a son of William 
McElwee and Mary (White) McElwee, both of whom were born in Frederick 
county. The subject of this sketch, James T. , first saw the light at the McEl- 
wee homestead September 11, 1845. His early life was spent on the farm and 
he received his education at the country schools. He was taken as a polit- 
ical prisoner in December, 1864, and held at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, until 
May, 1865, the close of the war. He was married February 7, 1867, to 
Victoria Gardner, who was born and raised on the Gardner homestead. She 
was a daughter of William P. Gardner, a millwright by trade, who died in 
1886, at the age of seventy-two years. Their family consisted of nine chil- 
dren, all of whom are living, the eldest being William F., aged twenty-one 



746 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH TALLEY. 

years; Charles A., aged eighteen j-ears; Daniel W., fifteen years; Branson G., 
Minnie I., Bertha L., Mary, Edna and Eva. Mr. McElweehas a farm under 
cultivation of sixty- seven acres and all obtained by his own personal efforts. 
He held the office of township collector for two years and that of justice of 
the peace for eight years. He is a democrat in politics and is a member of 
the county democratic executive committee. He is a member of the Lutheran 
Chiirch. 

Edward Jaquelin Smith, was born July 28, 1785, in Winchester, Va. , and 
was the son of Edward Smith and Elizabeth Bush. He was married Janu- 
ary 9, 1812, to Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Robert Macky, of Winchester, Va. , 
and had seven children: Catherine, who married Edward E. Hall, of Car- 
roll county, Md. ; William D., who married, October 31, 1839, Frances 
Stribling, of Staunton, Va. (December 9, 1862, he married Agnes Williams, 
of Clarke county, Va.); Edmonia, who married Col. J. W. Ware, of Clarke 
county, Va., and Edward, who died in infancy; Elizabeth was mar- 
ried twice, first to John Bush, of Covington, Ky., and second to Oliver 
Tousey, of Indianapolis, Ind. ; Emily, died at the age of fifteen; Roberta, 
married P. H. Powers of Clarke county, Va. Mr. Smith moved to that 
part of Frederick county which afterward became Clarke, in 1817, and lived 
at his home called Smithtield, until his death, which occurred on February 
15, 1878. Mr. Smith was very active in securing the formation of Clarke 
county in 1836. The following is an extract from an obituary notice pub- 
lished at the time of the death of Mr. Smith: "For many years, both 
in the county of Frederick and Clarke, after its separation from that county, 
Mr. Smith was an active justice of the peace, and for a considerable period 
of that time was the presiding justice of the courts of that county, until the 
change of the state constitution in 1852, making that office elective when he 
declined any longer to serve. Mr. Smith was eminently qualified for the 
discharge of the duties he so long and faithfully fulfilled." He was a mem- 
ber of the Episcopal Church and an active worker in Wickliffe parish. Va. 

Robert Bruce Muse, farmer, P. O. Back Creek Valley, Frederick 
county, was born at the Valley House June 7, 1836, and is a son of Edwin 
R. and Eliza R. (Scribner) Muse, who had a family of five children. He 
spent his early life on Back Creek, and received his education in the neigh- 
borhood schools. Leaving school he entered "the war in 1861, and was 
elected a lieutenant in the Thirty-third Regiment Virginia Infantry, after- 
ward forming one of the regiments that made up the Stonewall brigade. 
He served till the close of the war and left the service as a captain. He is 
supervisor of Back Creek township, which position he has filled continuously 
since the war. He has two farms iinder cultivation, containing 600 acres, 
which he has acquired by shrewd management. In politics Capt. Muse is a 
democrat. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 747 

William Phillips & Sons, builders, Charlestown. William Phillips is 
a son of Robert and Rosanua Phillips, and was born in 1820 in Chester 
county, Penn. , at which place he learned the carpenter's trade with his 
father, and there resided until 1849, when he came to Jefferson county, Va. , 
and engaged in business with a Mr. Langdon at Kabletown. In 1852 he 
married Martha, daughter of Samuel and Jane Lee, of his native county. 
By this marriage there were eleven children, viz. : Emma B. (deceased), 
Rosella (deceased), Samuel Lee, Robert H., Oscar M., William B., Edward 
W., Charles, Jennie, John Arthur (deceased) and Newton T. Mr. Phillips' 
principal business through life was that of a carpenter and builder, though 
for many years he was connected with a planing-mill and sash and door fac- 
tory. In 1878 he leased the McKnight factory in Charlestown, where he 
continued his business until his decease, having moved his family to Charles- 
town the following year. In 1881 his sons, Robert H., Oscar M. and Sam- 
uel Lee, were given an interest in the business, and the firm styled William 
Phillips & Sons. Mr. Phillips departed this life in January, 1883, at the 
age of sixty-four years, esteemed as an industrious and enterprising citizen. 
Mr. Phillips' parents were strict Presbyterians, and he always held to that 
faith. Several of his children are communicants of the same church. Mrs. 
Phillips still retains her husband's interest in the firm. In 1887 the sons 
built a large factory nearly opposite the McKnight factory, and have greatly 
enlarged their lousiness, and they are now ranked among the most enterpris- 
ing and successful business men in Charlestown. 

William F. Braithwaite, farmer and miller, Cross Junction. Frederick 
Co., Va, William Braithwaite, Sr., the progenitor of the Braithwaite family 
in this (Frederick county) section of country, probably the first in the 
United States, was born in England, about the year 1761. Of his early life 
nothing is known except tradition. It seems that he was left an orphan at 
an early age. He was then taken in care by an uncle, who for some un- 
known reason sent him to America when but sixteen years of age. The 
Revolutionary war being in progress at the time, he enlisted in the Conti- 
nental army, and under Washington served five years and six months, until 
the close of the war. After that period nothing is known of him till he 
makes his appearance in Middletown, Va. , where he is married to Catherine 
Brookover. After his marriage he settled in Frederick county, where he 
was steadily employed as a school teacher, having received his education in 
London, England, before he came to this country. It is not known that he 
was a member of any church, yet it is evident that he was a man of good 
moral temperament, never using profane or obscene language, and abstain- 
ing from the use of intoxicants. He died July 13, 1831, and was buried 
in the old Hieronimous burying ground, now known as the Redland grave- 
yard. 



748 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

He left a family of thirteen children, of whom a partial record is as fol- 
lows: Benjamin, born August 28, 1786; William, December 25, 1787; 
Amelia, July 30, 1789; Elizabeth, January 9, 1791; Jacob, October 13, 
1792; John, May 8, 1794; Priscilla, April 7, 1796; Ann and Susanna, Au- 
gust 19, 1798; Eleanor, January 25, 1801; Violet, July 27, 1802; Mary, 
September 20, 1804; and Emory, March 7, 1808. John, the sixth child, 
was raised a farmer and was married at the age of thirty-four, to Susan 
Farmer, May 8, 1828. He served in the war of 1812, at Norfolk, under 
Capt. Vanhorn, being then but nineteen years of age. He died June 19, 
1864, and was buried at Gainsboro. His widow is still living at the age of 
ninety-four. His political sentiments were like those of his ancestors, 
democratic. He had a family of four children: William F. Braithwaite, 
Jr., the subject of this sketch, born May 1, 1830; John A., born January 
23, 1832; Lydia, born March 1], 1835, and Hannah E., born February 24, 
1839. 

Mr. William F. Braithwaite, Jr., is one of Frederick county's best citi- 
zens, his occupation being farming and milling. He served as a Confed- 
erate soldier in the late war between the states, and was taken a prisoner in 
1864 and held for four months. He married Mary S. Grove, and their 
family consists of eight children: Oliver D. , born December 27, 1856; 
Florence C, born February 10, 1859; Samuel H., born March 14, 1861; 
VarenaD. , born March 21, 1863; Jackson S. , born October 7, 1865; Ed- 
ward W., born September 21, 1868; Clara V., born March 7, 1871; Robert 
G., May 27, 1873. Mr. Braithwaite is, as his father was, a strong adherent 
of the principles of his ancestors. He served fourteen years as justice of the 
peace of Frederick county. 

William Washington Adams, farmer, P. O. Gainsboro, Frederick 
Co., Va., was born March 6, 1815, where Martin M. Adams now resides. 
He lived with his parents until he married Sarah C, daughter of William 
Brown of Frederick county. They have one child, Theodore Carson, born 
April 7, 1854, now farming with his father and married to Bertie, daughter 
of William Anderson, of Frederick county, near White Hall. They have 
two children: William Brown and Lila May. Mr. Adams has lived where 
he now does, two miles west of Gainsboro, since 1856, on a farm of 100 
acres, an inheritance from his father. His surroundings and good build- 
ings, etc., indicate his success as a farmer. By his own labor and skillful 
management he has procured another farm of 200 acres near Cross Junction 
postoffice, on Isaac's creek. Mr. Adams is a democrat. 

Washington Deaemont, farmer, Boyce, was born in Clarke county, Va., 
July 11, 1829, and received a good ordinary education which stood him in 
good need after his arrival at manhood. He was married September 15, 
1870, to Janie Poague, daughter of Strother H. Bowen, and four children 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 749 

have blessed the union: W. Ernest, Willie A., Charles O. and Mamie J. 
William Dearmont, grandfather of Washington Dearmont, came from Ire- 
land about 1770 and located in FaUquier county, Va., taking to wife a Miss- 
Williams, from England, who bore him two sons and a daughter, the eldest 
son being Michael, the father of the subject of this sketch, who was born in 
1788. William Dearmont was with Gen. Washington's army at the sur- 
render of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Michael married Lucy, daughter of J. 
D. Ferguson, of Prince William county, Va. , in 1827. He (Michael) died 
in 1855 and his wife in 1885. They had a family of ten children, of whom 
six lived to maturity, Washington being the eldest, who located on his pres- 
ent homestead in 1849, where he has a farm of 400 acres, originally the 
home of Lawrence Butler, an officer in the Revolutionary army, who died 
and was buried on this place, his monument still standing inscribed with 
the date of his death, 1811. 

Mr. Washington Dearmont at the beginning of the late war was in com- 
mand of a regiment of State Militia, and afterward was with Mosby' s com- 
mand, where he remained until the close of hostilities, since which time he 
has devoted his energies to farming. He was elected sheriflp of Clarke county 
in 1866, and served till 1870, when he was displaced by the military authori- 
ties acting under the directions of the managers of the notorious recon- 
struction measures. He is at present serving as supervisor of Greenway dis- 
trict. The family are members of the Baptist Church. 

Thomas S. Chamblin, farmer, P. O. White Hall, Frederick Co., Va., 
was born in Loudoun county, Va., October 9, 1843. Son of William and 
Asenoth (Palmer) Chamblin. His grandparents on his father's side were 
William and Catherine Chamblin. On his mother's side his grandfather 
was Abel Palmer. The early life of Mr. Thomas Chamblin, the subject 
of this sketch, was spent near Unison, Loudoun Co., Va., and he was edu- 
cated at New Lisbon. He was married in November, 1871, to Mary Beatrice 
Baker, daughter of Henry M. and Catherine Baker, of Frederick Co., Va. , 
and four children have blessed the union: Katie, Asenoth, Henry Baker 
and William. Mr. Chamblin enlisted in the Confederate army, in 1861, 
becoming a member of Company H, First Virginia Cavalry, the regiment 
being commanded by that dashing and skillful soldier, Col., afterward Gen. 
J. E. B. Stuart, and was wounded in the first battle of Manassas. Mr. 
Chamblin has been quite successful in life, and has acceptably filled the 
position of justice of the peace. He is a democrat. 

Jacob Warden, farmer, P. O. Berryville, was born in 1841 on Lost 
River, Hardy Co., W. Va., son of Benjamin Warden, born in 1790 and dy- 
ing in 1844, having first seen the light at the same place in the same county, 
and where he lived his whole life, occupied as a farmer, he having been very 
successful. He carried on farming and grazing on business principles. He 



750 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

received a good start in life from home, but accumulated considerable besides. 
He was a very patriotic man; politically a Avhig. In 1828 he married Lu- 
cinda Vannort, born in 1808, daughter of Jacob and Eda (Lehew) Vannort, 
of Warren county, Va«, near Front Royal. Their children were Benjamin 
F., died in 1888 in Texas; Julius C, living in Texas; James M. , living in 
W. Va. ; Jacob, subject; Wm. B. died of small-pox in the Confederate 
army. 

Jacob Warden, subject of this sketch, is a grandson of William Warden, 
born in 1749, and died in 1823, and Sarah (Christman) Warden, born in 
1757 and dying in 1829. He bought and lived on the old nome farm, in 
Hardy county, above mentioned, the deed for which was made by Lord Fair- 
fax, and still in possession of the family. His life was spent as a farmer. 
When a boy, he and his youngest brother were playing near their home, some- 
times called "Warden's Fort," near " Fort Inskip," when they were shot at 
by Indians and the youngest brother was killed. Jacob, our subject, lived at 
the old home farm until 1861, when he entered the Confederate army, serving 
during the war, first as private in the Seventh Virginia Regiment of Cavalry, 
Capt. Sheet's company. In August, 1862, he was elected second lieutenant in 
Eighteenth Virginia Cavalry, and early in 1863 commanded as captain 
and was taken prisoner on Capon river and confined at Johnson's island, 
Lake Erie, after which he did not get back into service again, as there was 
no exchange of prisoners. After the war he again farmed in Hardy county, 
but, in 1875 he came to Clarke county and bought a farm of 284 acres, 
where he now lives, four miles north of Berryville, being good limestone 
land. He has been a successful farmer and a good citizen and democrat. 
In 1868 he married Susan, daughter of Hezekiah and Louisa (Baker) 
Clagett, of Capon. Their children are Daisy C. , Grace G. and Harry C. 

John William Lupton (deceased), son of Nathaniel C. Lupton, was born 
and always lived within three and a half miles of Winchester, on the north- 
western turnpike. He was a prosperous farmer and a member of the Pres- 
byterian Church. He married Mary Ann, daughter of Clark and Marga- 
ret Ann (Lupton) Cather, the latter a daughter of Jonathan and sister of 
Thomas N. Lupton. Clark and Margaret A. Cather had seven sons and 
three daughters. Clark Cather was a son of James Cather, a farmer and an 
elder in the Presbyterian Church. John W. and Mary Ann Lupton had one 
daughter, Margaret E. Lupton. 

John M. Silver, farmer, Winchester, was born in Berkeley Co., Va. , in 
1846, son of Zepheniah Silver, who was also a native of Berkeley county. 
His grandfather, Francis Silver, came from Silver Spring, Penn. The 
family is of Scotch and English ancestry. Zepheniah, who was a farmer, 
was a very successful and substantial citizen of Frederick county. He was 
married to Martha Jane, daughter of Hiram Henshaw, of English lineage, i* 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGEAPHY. 751 

and to them were born ten children, nine of whom grew to maturity, and 
of these there are now four sons and two daughters living. Four sons 
served in the Confederate army, and one of them, Frank, was a captain, af- 
terward colonel. Zepheniah Silver belonged to the old whig party, and was 
a strong Union man. He died in 1875, at the age of seventy-four years. 

John M. Silver, our subject, the only representative of the family in this 
Valley, spent his earlier days in Frederick county, and was educated in 
Winchester. When twenty-one years of age he was elected clerk of Stone- 
wall district, and, after serving two terms, resigned, and was then elected 
sheriff of the county, and served one term. After that he was for some 
time engaged in the mercantile business in Winchester, and then located on 
a farm which was then owned by the third generation of his family. He 
was twice elected to the board of supervisors, of which body he was made 
chairman, and in 1887 was elected to the legislature of the commonwealth, 
and re-elected in 1889. In 1880 he was joined in marriage to Maggie, 
daughter of Wm. Parkins, and to them were born two children : Harry Hol- 
lingsworth and Bayard Parkins. Mr. Silver is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, being a Knight Templar. Is an elder in the Presbyterian Church 
and a democrat. 

J. K. McCann, farmer, Stephenson, was born in Indiana county, Penn., 
September 1, 1838. He is the son of Hugh and Rosanna McCann, who 
were the parents of eight children. Hugh McCann was born in County Ca- 
van, Ireland, and came to America in 1824, settling in New York State, and 
there purchasing a farm and remaining three years. He then removed to 
Indiana county, Penn. , and there resided till his death. He was quite a suc- 
cessful farmer. 

Mr. J. K. McCann passed his early days in his native country and was 
there educated. He remained on his father's farm until he grew to man- 
hood. In 1862 he became a government contractor, and furnished forage to 
the United States army, holding that position until the close of the war, 
after which he served as railroad contractor in Kentucky for seven years. 
In 1872 he located in Frederick county, and purchased the farm where he 
resides. He was married to Sarah E., daughter of David Crone, who was a 
native of York county Penn. , and who came to this county in 1840. Mr. 
Crone is of German descent, a prominent and influential man. Mr. and 
Mrs. McCann became the parents of three children: Mary Virginia, Wm. 
L. and Chas. Richard. In 1883 Mr. McCann was appointed a commissioner 
of the elections by the Legislature, and served three years. He is chair- 
man of the democratic county committee, and supervisor of this district. 
His farm contains 1,000 acres of land. He is a member of the Patrons of 
Husbandry, and in politics a democrat. 

Jacob B. Lareick (deceased) was born March 12, 1826, and died Octo- 



752 HISTORY OF THE LOWEE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

ber 22, 1887, in the house where his widow now lives, two miles from Mid- 
dletown. He was a son of George and Rebecca (Brinker) Larrick, who was 
born in 1770, and died in 1849, the wife being born in 1779 and dying in 1851. 
The children born to this union were: Mary (died young), Rebecca (died 
in 1862), Asaph (died in 1869), Manly (died in 1846), Pamelia (died in 
1872), Catherine (now widow of Alfred Rust), Mazey (died in 1887), George 
B. (died in 1888), Killesta (died in 1848), Elizabeth (died in 1819), Ceatta 
(now widow of Silas Simmons, of Bloomington, 111.), Rachel (died in 1881), 
Isaac (died in 1847), Mary Ann (died in 1829), and Jacob Bright, our sub- 
ject (who was a great-grandson of George Larrick, who purchased the farm of 
285 acres upon which he lives and which is still in possession of his heirs, and 
which was purchased of Lord Fairfax in 1760, the original deed being in 
the possession of the family at the present time. He built the house which 
has been remodeled, additions having been added since, but contains part 
of the original homestead. With the exception of about four years spent in 
Clarke county, Mr. Larrick lived the rest of his life at the old home place, 
occupied as a farmer. In 1851 he married Mary Ann, daughter of George 
B. and Sarah (Anderson) Scaggs, of Montgomery county, Md. ; their chil- 
dren were: Dr. George W. (married M. Louise McGee, of Baltimore), Lucy 
R. (now Mrs. James Faulkner, of Winchester), Sarah E. (now Mrs. Samuel 
Williams), Edgar O., James I. (married Rose Bird, daughter of W. H. 
Bird, of Maryland), Jacob B. (married Cora A. Rudesill, of Warren county, 
Va.), Mary S. (died in infancy), Cora L. (now Mrs. P. A. Scaggs), Robert 
A. and Herbert S. Mr. Larrick was a prominent member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South, and spent a great part ^ of his time in church 
work and assisted in the organization of numerous churches, and was 
highly respected. He was a lieutenant in the Confederate army, and a 
democrat politically. His estate has been in the family nearly a century 
and a half, having come down in a direct line, without interruption, since 
1760. 

NiMEOD Whitacre, farmer, P. O. Whitacre, was born in January, 1822, in 
in Frederick county, near Back Creek, where he lived until he was twelve years 
of age, then went with his parents to Timber Ridge, his father being George 
Whitacre, who was born in Loudoun county, Va. , but spent the greater part 
of his early life in South Carolina. He married Rachel Wilson, of Lou- 
doun county, and their children were: Lutie (dead), Nimrod, Asbury, An- 
nette, Robert, Phineas, Zidwell, Richard and Aglon. The father died in 
1853, at the time of his death owning considerable property. Mr. Whit- 
acre, the subject of this sketch, is a grandson of Joshua Whitacre, who lived 
and died in Frederick county, Va. , and who was of Welsh descent. He 
(Nimrod) married Elizabeth A., daughter of Peter Mauzy, of Hampshire 
county, Va., in October, 1844, and to them were born eight children: Har- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 753 

rison P., Lamarian C. (dead), James P., George S., William C, Turner A., 
Kobert E. L. and Herbert D. His only occupation has been farming, which 
he has made a success. He received a small heritage, but has accumulated 
considerable real estate. He served as a magistrate for thirty years, and 
one term as representative in the house of delegates of the state. He is a 
member of the Disciples Church, and politically a democrat. For two years 
after marriage he lived in Hampshire county, but moved to his present resi- 
dence near Whitacre post-office in 1846. His wife died in April, 1886. 

Rev. T. J. MuKRAY for the past four years has been assistant pastor of 
the Catholic church at Winchester. 

James W. Thomas, sewing machine dealer, Berry ville, Clarke Co., Va., 
son of Wilson and Sarah Thomas, was born in Loudoun county, Va., in 1826, 
and resided there until twenty years of age, when he removed to the state 
of New York, where he remained three years, thence returned to Virginia, 
and settled in Frederick county. In 1858 he removed to Berryville, 
where he has resided ever since. He is a shoemaker by trade, but for some 
years has been engaged in the sewing machine business. He has been three 
times married, first to Maranda Jones, in 1856, and by this marriage there 
were four children, viz. : Mary, widow of James Milton ; Kate, wife of 
Joseph Schooley; John is living, and Francis is deceased. Their mother 
died in 1867, aged thirty-six years. His next marriage was in 1874, to 
Sarah Milstead, of Jefferson county, Va. , and by this union there were no 
children. She departed this life in 1883, at the age of forty-four years. 
Mr. Thomas was again married, in 1886, to Mattie Langdon. He is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church, has been a member of the common council, and 
is a substantial citizen of Berryville, Clarke Co. , Va. 

Philip J. Affleck, blacksmith, Berryville, Clarke Co., Va. , son of 
Alexander G. and Ann E. (Hoover) Affleck, was born in Winchester, Fred- 
erick Co., Va. , July 18, 1837. His father, Alexander G., was one of eleven 
children of James Affleck, who married Marion Gladstone. He came from 
Scotland with his parents about 1825, and settled in Frederick county, Va. 
He married a Miss Hoover, and by this marriage there were six children, 
viz..: Philip J., Marion (deceased), Anna (wife of James McKericher), 
Scott A., John and Francis. He was a blacksmith by occupation, and, 
though not in the army during the late war, he was taken prisoner with 
other citizens in 1864, and sent to Fort McHenry, where he took a severe 
cold, from which he never recovered. His widow is still living at the ad- 
vanced age of seventy si^ years. Philip J. Affleck has been twice married, 
first, in 1861, to Marion, daughter of Zachariah and Sallie Ann Kern, of 
Frederick county, Va. , and by this marriage there was one child born, which 
died in infancy. Mrs. Affleck died in 1862. He was next married, in Oc- 
tober, 1865, to Marcella M., daughter of AVilliam Deahl, of this county, 

46 



754 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

and by this marriage there have been born fonr children, viz. : Anna E. 
(deceased), Robert S., Philip J. and Mary (deceased). Mr. Affleck is a 
blacksmith by occupation, and has carried on the business for many years. 
During the past six years he has been engaged in handling agricultural im- 
plements, with Mr. Pulliam as his partner. Mr. Affleck is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and is super- 
intendent of the Sabbath-school. 

Aakon Duble, farmer, Wickliffe, son of Andrew and Mary S. Duble, 
was born in Washington county, Md. , August 4, 1822. In 1848 he was 
married, in Clarke county, Va. , to Jane Eliza, daughter of Abram and Mary 
(Grim) Copenhaver, and they have been blessed with seven children, viz. : 
John H. (who married Ellom T. Snyder), Mary S. (wife of Milton Baugh- 
man), Alice G., Nannie M. , Virginia Lee (wife of George Wynkoop), Emma 
C. and Charles W. Mr. Duble ranks among the self-made men of Clarke 
county. He was reared on a farm, but, at the age of sixteen years, became 
apprenticed to the trade of millwright, which business he followed until 
1859, when he engaged in milling, which he followed till 1865, when he 
turned his attention to farming, and in 1877 purchased the farm of 134 
acres, where he now resides, and upon which he has built an elegant dwell- 
ing house. He has been honored with the office of magistrate in his dis- 
trict, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He has risen from hum- 
ble circumstances, by his industry and economy, to that of a competency, 
and enjoys the confidence and respect of his fellow-citizens. 

Michael Ceow, farmer, Berry ville, Clarke Co., Va., the son of Isaac and 
Nancy (Kindall) Crow, was born September 7, 1831, in Fayette county, 
Penn. , his parents also being natives of that county. His father died there 
in February, 1889, at the age of nearly ninety years, having followed farm- 
ing the greater part of his life. His father's brother, Alexander Crow, was 
judge of the covirt of Fayette county, Penn., for many years. Michael 
Crow was twice married; first, to Sarah Kindall, of Perry county, Ohio, in 
1853, and to this marriage there were born three children: Helen M. , 
wife of Charles Speaks, a native of Virginia; Lydia R. , deceased wife of 
Frank Springer, and Eugenia W., deceased. IVIi's. Sarah Crow died in 
November, 1865, at the age of twenty-seven years. Mr. Crow was next 
married, October 24, 1877, to Mrs. Susan F. Bushong, and by this union 
there are three children: Carrie Lee, Susan F. and Harry M. Mr. Crow 
has always been a tiller of the soil, and during the late war he resided in 
Ohio and belonged to the National Guards. At the age of twenty-four 
years he became a member of the I. O. O. F. ; is also a member of the Dis- 
ciples Church. Some fifteen years ago he purchased the farm where he now 
resides in Battletown District, Clarke Co. , Va. , and is one of its substantial 
citizens. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 755 

Christian W. Singhass, miller and farmer, Castleman's Ferry, Clarke 
Co., Va. , son of James A. and Mary S. Singhass, was born in Frederick 
county, Va., August 11, 1854. His great-grandfather came from Germany 
and settled in Frederick county, Va. , where Christian Singhass, grand- 
father of Christian W. , was born in 1789, and where he resided until his 
decease, in 1854. He left three sons: James A. (now dead), Christian S. 
and Baker S. James A., father of Christian W. , was married in 1851 to 
Mary L., daughter of William and Mary Eddy, of Frederick county, Va. 
They had but two children. Christian W. and Annie C, wife of William 
F. Hottle, of Frederick county, Va. Their parents were members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Singhass was a steward and 
class-leader, and lived a very devoted life, dying July 7, 1861. His widow 
is still living in Clarke county, at the age of thirty-five years. Chris- 
tian W. was married, November 4, 1873, to Jennie, daughter of James and 
Mary Allison, of Frederick county, Va., and they have been blessed with 
four children, viz. : Effie R. , Walter F. , Annie P. and Lillian L. Mr. 
Singhass was reared on a farm, but at the age of sixteen years he engaged 
to learn the milling business at the Valley Mills with his uncle, William N. 
Eddy, which business he has followed ever since. For several years he has 
leased and run the Milldale Mills, said to be over one hundred years old, and 
at present owned by A. Moore, of Berry ville. He is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity and of the I. O. O. F. and of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and is well known for his industry and integrity. 

George W. Gordon, farmer, Berryville, son of John and Sallie Gordon, 
was born in Jefferson county, Va. , in 1824. His father was born in the 
same county in 1804, and resided there until about 1836, at which time he 
came to Clarke county, Va. He married Miss Sallie Spotts, of Jefferson 
county, Va. , and by this union there were six children: Rebecca (wife of 
Abel Marks; they settled in Missouri; both are deceased), Ellen (deceased), 
John J. (deceased), George W., Philip (living in Jefferson county, W. Va.) 
and Thomas N. Their mother died in 1851 and their father in 1856, 
George W., the subject of this sketch, was married in 1855 to Lydia A., 
daughter of Peter and Hannah Cain, of Clarke county, Va. , and they have 
been blessed with four children: Lizzie L., Luella (wife of Welby H. Bald- 
win, of Loudoun county, Va. ), Nannie B. (wife of Willie Hyde Benton, of 
Loudoun county, Va.), and John W. Mr. Gordon was reared on a farm and 
commenced life in very humble circumstances, having been a renter until 
1872, when, by industry and economy he was enabled to purchase the farm 
of about 200 acres, where he now resides, and upon which he moved in 
1874. He is now one of Battletown district's substantial farmers and highly 
esteemed citizens. 

William B. Clagett, farmer and stock dealer, Berryville, Clarke Co. , 
Va. , son of Hezekiah and Louisa Clagett, was born in Hardy county, Va. , 



756 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

in 1840. His grandfather came from Maryland and settled in Hardy 
county, Va., where his father was born in 1805, and where he was married, 
in 1834, to Louisa D. Baker. By this marriage there were eleven children, 
seven still living, viz.: John, resides in Frederick county, Va. ; Mary E., 
wife of James E. Baker, of Hardy county, W. Va. ; William B. ; Naylor I., 
of Cameron, Mo. ; Susan A., wife of Jacob Warder, of Clarke county, Va. ; 
Louisa F., wife of Andrew Bowling, of Augusta county, Va. ; Hezekiah N. , 
of Hardy county, W. Va. James H. died from wounds received while 
in the Confederate service. Their father, Hezekiah Clagett, was a farmer 
and stock dealer, and died January 14, 1871, at the age of sixty-six years. 
His widow is still living at the age of seventy-live years. William B. Clag- 
ett was married, November 17, 1872, to Rebecca H. , daughter of John M. 
and Ann Maria Hopewell, of Hardy county, W. Va. , and by this union there 
have been born to them eight children, viz. : Alice C, Thomas H. , John M. 
H., James H., William N., Maria L., Mary E. W. and Robert H. Mr. 
Clagett came to this place in 1874, and purchased the property where he 
now resides, of Col. J. W. Ware. It is known as the Springfield place, and 
contains 290»acres. The Clagett family have been tillers of the soil for 
several generations, and as such have been successful and are known as 
honest, industrious, frugal people and good citizens. 

G. Washington Pifer, farmer, Star Tannery, was born in 1833, in Shen- 
andoah county, Va. His father was Elijah Pifer, who married a daughter 
of George Fringer, of Augusta county, October 80, 1832, and removed with 
his son in 1834, to Frederick county. Back Creek district. Mr. Pifer was edu- 
cated in the district schools and married May 18, 1865, Mary M. , daughter 
of Henry and Margaret Honaker, who came from Switzerland shortly after 
she was born. They have a family of two boys and four girls, all living, 
their names being Silas Billings, Annie U., Mary Magdeline, Margaret Cath- 
erine, Elijah and Bettie Cover. Mr. Pifer and family are members of the 
Lutheran Church, and in politics he is a democrat. His farm of 650 acres 
includes a portion of the old homestead. 

John W. Pifek, farmer. Mountain Falls, is a son of Jacob Pifer, who 
was born near Strasburg, Shenandoah Co., Va. , and lived to be ninety-four 
years of age, and Catherine (Snapp) Pifer, of Frederick county, daughter of 
George Snapp, who had a family of eight children, the eldest being Mar- 
garet F. ; Mary, deceased; Eliza, died in 1887, aged seventy-eight years; 
John W. ; Harriet Hillman; Ann Boone; Jacob S. , deceased. The subject 
of this sketch was born March 4, 1809, and spent his boyhood near Stras- 
burg, receiving his education at the district subscription schools, afterward 
teaching a term of three months. He was married, October 14, 1834, to 
Mary Rudolph, who died April 3, 1847, leaving a family of three children: 
Randolph Pifer, who is present county treasurer; Harriet, who married 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 757 

Josiah Rinker; and Ella. He married Margaret Ritenour, November 25, 
1847, who died January 6, 1879, leaving four children: Cyrus, Laura, 
Stanley and Clarence. He then married Martha Ellen Langley, daughter 
of William and Mary Langley, of Winchester, on the 18th of February, 
1880. He located on his present homestead on March 6, 1837, having sold 
a farm of 200 acres, which his father gave him (located on Cedar creek), 
and purchased this one of 500 acres, paying at that time $1,000. In pol- 
itics he is a democrat. He was a magistrate under the old regime, and 
after the war was elected by the people to fill the same position until re- 
fusing to accept further. He was overseer of the poor for many years, and 
helped to take the census in 1860; was also district school trustee, and 
served as deputy sheriff for half the county district. He served as executor 
and administrator for many estates. He is a member of the Lutheran (St. 
John's) Church, and served as elder of the same. 

John W. Ramey, farmer, Haytield. The subject of this sketch was 
born in 1837, his father being Presley Ramey, and his mother Elizabeth 
Hammack, who were married in 1836 and settled on a farm of 239 acres, 
which his son still owns. John W. was the eldest child, born in 1837, and 
spent his early days in the field, and got a limited education out of his spare 
hours and among his home schools. On account of poor health he was 
exempt from service in the Civil war, but during the latter part of it was 
taken and held as a conscript prisoner until the close. He was married, in 
February, 1865, to Miss Mattie I. Boyd, a daughter of John and Elizabeth 
(Horn) Boyd, old residents of Frederick county, and six children have been 
born to them, all living: Boyd Presley, aged twenty four years; Lizzie C, 
aged twenty-two years; Emma B. , aged twenty- one years; Eflfie M. , aged 
nineteen years; Martha Ellen, aged sixteen years, and John C. , aged twelve 
years. The family are members of the United Brethren in Christ Church, 
and in politics Mr. Ramey is a republican. Mr. Ramey has closely attended 
to his farming and a^ this time has three farms, one of 239 acres, the old 
homestead; a second of 230 acres, and a third of 139 acres, all adjoining 
and under a high state of cultivation. 

B. F. Kerns, P. M. , Rock Enon Springs, is a son of Nathan Kerns and 
Elizabeth (Parish) Kerns, who had a family of eight children. The subject 
of this sketch was born in the locality known as Timber Ridge, Frederick 
Co., Va., in June, 1829, and was educated in the county schools and after- 
ward followed the carpenter's trade for some years. He was married, in 
1852, to Julian Triplett, and they have a family of twelve children. His 
wife died of paralysis February 13, 1885. He was appointed postmaster of 
Rock Enon in 1877, and has filled his office with entire satisfaction to all. 
In politics he is a democrat. 

William J. Good, miller, Rock Enon Springs. The subject of this 
sketch was born December 17, 1860, within a mile of the old Dunlap grist- 



758 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

mill, of which he is the present proprietor. His father is Jacob Good and 
his mother Eliza (Sine) Grood, who had nine children, of whom William J. 
is sixth. The early life of subject was spent in the neighborhood 
where he was born, and his education was received in the district schools, he 
afterward teaching four years in the Rock Enon school, but which he gave 
up on account of poor health and learned the milling business with William 
Dunlap, commencing in 1885, and on his death, purchased the mill from the 
estate. Mr. Good was married March 17, 1881, to Alice Dunlap of Rock 
Enon, and has a family of three children: Bertha M. (aged four years), 
Lester L. (two years) and Stanley (one year). Mr. Good is a Democrat. 

Jonathan Jenkins, deceased, was born in 1808, and was a son of Jacob 
Jenkins, who was of German ancestry. Jonathan was reared on his father's 
farm, and early in youth he was left to battle his way through the 
world alone. He chose the healthful occupation of his father, and all 
through his life was a hard-working, industrious farmer. He was married 
twice, the name of his first wife being Eliza (Bean), who bore him two chil- 
dren, one of whom is living. His second marriage was to Rebecca Jane 
Hodson, daughter of Robert Hodson, who came from one of the early 
pioneer families. Mr. Jenkins accumulated during his enterprising life some 
600 acres of land, and at his death left his widow 200 acres of finely im- 
proved property. He was a member of the Society of Friends and a repub- 
lican in politics. 

Sidney Chivers, mechanical engineer. The subject of this sketch is of 
English birth, a son of Joseph Chivers. It was about the year 1850 Sidney 
Chivers, with his wife and child, came to America and settled in Lebanon 
county, Penn. , locating in the city of Lebanon and there followed his trade. 
Hard work and perseverance have attended Mr. Chivers, and the result of 
it is a finely improved farm of 215 acres. He was twice married, his sec- 
ond marriage taking place in 1862 to Mary Ann Faurot, daughter of Timo- 
thy and Amy (Woolsley) Faurot, the former from New Jersey and the latter 
of French ancestry. Two daughters have blessed this union: Eleanor Jane 
and Amy Virginia Chivers, both of whom are at home. The family are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Chivers is a democrat 
and a Mason. 

J. W. Marks, dealer in stoves, tinware, etc., Berryville. The Marks 
family were originally from Powell Valley, Ky. Alexander Marks, the nom- 
inal head of this family, was born October 29, 1792, and his wife, Sarah 
Mytinger, was born September 6, 1792. Mr. Marks came to Newtown, 
Frederick Co., Va. , where he learned the blacksmith's trade, and there is 
where he lived the remainder of his life. He died March 15, 1845. His 
wife survived till March 11, 1878. Their children were Ann Elizabeth, 
born May 20, 1822; Samuel Mytinger, February 12, 1824; Catherine Jane, 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 759 

November 23, 1825; Jacob Alexander, January 19, 1828; Daniel, October 
28, 1829. One son went south, and the sisters settled in the west. Jacob 
Alexander Marks married Anna E. Shryock, May 29, 1831, and their chil- 
dren were: Charles A., born October 2, 1848; J. W., September 18, 1850; 
Sarah E., May 9, 1853; E. F., January 28, 1856; T. P., March 22, 1859; 
Samuel A., August 28, 1862; Laura S., March 19, 1856; Bernard A., Jan- 
uary 22, 1869; Florence Mytinger, June 11, 1871; George Addison, De- 
cember 11, 1873. J. W. Marks married Laura A. Dinkle. His children 
were Charles W. , Stewart B., Herbert T. and Helen E. Mr. Marks is a 
tinner by trade, and is an enterprising business man, having the confidence 
of the citizens generally of Clarke County. 

Louis ScHEUER, proprietor of the Winston Hall Clothing House in Berry- 
ville, and of another establishment in Front Royal, Va. , was born in Hesse 
Darmstadt, Germany, on the 24:th of June, 1857, being the youngest son of 
Moses Scheuer. He received his education in college at Muenzenberg, 
Oberhessen, and started his commercial life at home. He came to the 
United States at the age of seventeen in 1874, and lived in Baltimore, Md. , 
till January, 1880, when he came to Berryville, Va. , and started in business 
for himself and opened a branch in 1887 at Front Royal, Va. He is a He- 
brew and a live and energetic business man. Mr. Scheuer married Miss S. 
Myers, daughter of the late Mr. H. Myers, of East Baltimore, and has four 
children: Maurice L., born April 28, 1882; Birdie L., born June 21, 1885; 
Sidney S., born August 24, 1887; Mathilda, born January 26, 1890. 

Craven CoE, a retired farmer, Whitacre P. O. , Frederick cotmty, Va., 
was born May 27, 1814, on Timber Ridge, where he lived until 1884, when 
his dwelling house, with four out-buildings, including barn and crop, were 
totally consumed by fire. He still owns the farm of 250 acres, on which he 
has erected new buildings and expects to occupy them soon. He owns an- 
other farm of 208 acres, on which he has lived since the above loss. He is 
a shoemaker by trade, which he has followed in connection with farming, 
but owing to failing health is unable to do work of any kind at present. In 
1840 he married Sarah, daughter of Ehrem Miller, and ten children were 
born to them, only two of whom are now living: Sarah E. , now Mrs. James 
W. Bageant, and Charles E. , now farming, and owns a farm on Timber 
Ridge, and married Jennie Bageant, daughter of Samson Bageant. Mr. 
Coe is a member of the Baptist Church, and a democrat. Mr. Coe's father 
William Coe, was born in Maryland, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
war. After his marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of Joshua Gore, of Lou- 
doun county, Va. , he came to the farm where our subject was born. Nine 
children came to them as follows: Samuel, James, Albin, John, Abraham, 
William, Craven, Elizabeth and Emily. While there is no account of his 
grandfather Coe, it is understood that he came from England, and that his 
grandfather Gore came from Ireland. 



760 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Maetin M. Adams, farmer, Gainsboro, Frederick county, Va., was 
born Jnly 30, 1817, where he now lives, one mile west of Gainsboro post- 
ofiSce, or Pughtown, as it is frequently called, on Back creek, and ten miles 
from "Winchester. He is a son of Thomas Adams, who was born near the 
same place in 1772, and was occiipied in hauling merchandise until that 
business became less profitable to him. He accumulated considerable prop- 
erty, however, in the above way. The latter part of his life he was en- 
gaged in farming, and died in 1852. He was married, about 181-1, to Lena, 
daughter of Martin Quick (who was born near Trenton, N. J., but lived near 
Gainsboro when this daughter married), and Anna (Clouson) Quick. Unto this 
marriacre were born: William Washington; Martin Monroe; Ellen A. ; Fraak- 
lin M. ; James H. , deceased; Albena, living in Missouri; Thomas J.; and 
John Deen, living near White Hall. Mr. Adams is the grandson of William 
Adams, of whom there is little record, except that he married Lydia Mellon, 
and was engaged in farming, where he now resides. Mr. Adams has alwavs 
lived where he does at present and owns a good farm of 160 acres, part of 
which is limestone land. In 1862 he married Harriet, daughter of Alfred 
Garrett of Frederick county, but originally from Loudoun county, Va. Their 
children are: Ernest Washington, two that died in infancy, and Thomas 
Garrett. Mr. Adams has served as overseer of the poor, and is now serving 
as one of the supervisors of Frederick county, which oflfice he has held 
for twelve successive years. Politically he is a democrat. 

Harrison P. Whitacee, merchant, Gainsboro, was born in 1848 where 
his father now lives, and is a son of Nimrod Whitacre. ■ Subject lived with 
his parents until he was twenty-one years of age, and was educated 
mostly in the country schools near his home and at Gainsboro and Capon 
Bridge. He taught school from 1869 till 1876, during the winters, at the 
same time serving as tax-collector and commissioner of revenue two years 
each. In 1877 he married Mary Y. , daughter of Richard and Hannah 
(Newbank) Johnson, of High view, Frederick Co., Ya. , and the children of 
this union are: Eflfie A., Elizabeth J., Sophia A. and Nimrod S. Mr. 
Whitacre, in 1876, came to Gainsboro and clerked for A. R. Unger in the 
general merchandising for one year, then went into partnership with him. 
In 1883 he bought Mr. Unger' s interest, and has since conducted the busi- 
ness himself successfully. With some assistance at the start he has accumu- 
lated considerable property in the village of Gainsboro. He is a member 
of the Disciples Church, and a democrat in politics. 

Jonathan Jackson, farmer, P. O. Gainsboro, Ya., was born June 27, 
1832, on Back Creek, Frederick county, Ya. , within two and one-half miles 
northeast of Gainsboro, formerly called Pughtown. He is a son of 
Samuel Jackson, who was born in 1760, in Frederick county (near where 
our subject now lives), and died in 1845. He carried on a general pawn- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 761 

broker business in Baltimore for about fifteen years, after which he returned 
to the place of his birth, and was occupied as a farmer the remainder of his 
life. He married Cynthia McVeigh, who died September 5, 1873, daughter 
of Eli McVeigh, of Loudoun county Va., and their children were: Benjamin 
F., Margaret A., Samuel, Jonathan and Ruth G. Mr. Jackson is a grand- 
son of Josiah Jackson, who was born in Lancaster county, Penn., and 
married Margaret, daughter of Joseph Steer, of Frederick county, Va. To 
this union were born six boys and four girls, Mr. Jackson' s father being the 
first child. Grandfather Jackson's life occupation was that of a miller. 
Our subject lived with his parents nntil 1873, when he married Janie S., 
daughter of Archibald and Lydia Robinson. To them one child only 
has come, Llewellyn, born August 17, 1873. Mr. Jackson owns a farm 
of 150 acres. His ancestors were members of the Society of Friends. He 
is not an active member himself, but his sympathies are with them. He did 
not serve in the Civil war, and was opposed to secession, but is a democrat 
politically. Subject was young when his father died, and knows little of 
his history ; but his father followed wagoning, hauling goods for seven or 
eight years before he went to farming. He hauled from Baltimore and 
Alexandria across the Alleghanies to Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Jarvis Jennings (deceased) was born in 1834 at Westport, Fairfield 
Co. , Conn. He married, in May, 1862, Caroline B. , daughter of Capt. Burr 
Hull, also of Fairfield county, Conn., but was originally from Saratoga 
county, N. Y. Mr. Jennings moved to Clarke county, Va., in 1866, and 
purchased the property known as "Newport," consisting of 258 acres. He 
died March 4, 1878, of typhoid fever, leaving a widow, Mrs. Caroline B. 
Jennings, who still resides on the home place. Mr. Jennings was a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church. 

Henky Wilen, city collector, Martinsburg, was born in 1826, in Wash- 
ington county, Md. The father of Mr. Wilen was Nicholas Wilen, who 
was born in 1795 in Philadelphia, and died in 1842. He went to Washing- 
ton county, when a young man and married Margaret Duble, who died in 
1854, aged sixty-four years. Nicholas was a manufacturer of woolens, and 
was engaged for some years at the old Eichelbeger factory in Hagerstown. 
The grandfather Wilen came from England and the grandmother from 
Germany. 

Mr. Henry Wilen came to Martinsburg in 1839, with his parents, the 
father being engaged in woolen manufacturing at the old woolen mill, but 
at the time being run by Showers & Duble. Young Wilen attended the 
schools of his adopted town, and at the age of fourteen served in his father' s 
business; then started in the tanning business, but left that trade at sixteen 
years to learn the cabinet business, which he followed until 1865; then ran 
the old Everett Hotel from 1865 to 1870; was deputy sheriff from 1870 to 



762 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

1876; again ran the Everett House for two years; served four years as 
magistrate; was appointed by the city council, in the fall of 1880, city col- 
lector, which position he still holds. He was married in 1859 to Catherine 
L. Showers, and four children have been born to him, all living. The 
family are Methodists. Mr. Wilen is a democrat. 

Manson p. Smith, farmer and miller, P. O. Marlboro, Frederick Co. , 
Ya. , was born in 1836 in Hampshire county, Va. , near Burlington, on Pat- 
terson Creek. He spent the early part of his life as a farmer. In 1871 he 
married Nannie V. Afflick, daughter of James and Catherine (Hotsenpiller) 
Afflick. James Afflick, a Scotchman by birth, came to America when eighteen 
years of age and settled near Winchester, where he was a successful farmer. 
He was a descendant of the Gladstone family of England on his mother's 
side. He was the last of the family of five boys and five girls and died in 
1883. Mr. Smith has been a successful farmer, accumulating considerable 
property. His children are Mary B. , Catherine A. and James B. He 
commenced life poor and now owns a farm and flour-mill. He is a member 
of the Methodist Ei:)iscopal Church South. His brother, James R. Smith, 
was born in 1821 at Kernstown, Frederick Co., Va. They are sons of Ben- 
jamin Smith who was born near Winchester, and was a successful farmer. 
He served in the war of 1812, and married Amelia, daughter of John Hot- 
senpiller, of Frederick county, on Opequon Creek. Their children were 
John A., Benjamin F. (dead), Jaqueline (dead), James Rust, George W. 
(dead), Presley B. and Manson P. They are grandsons of John Smith, 
who was brought up in Winchester and followed farming. In 1873 James 
R. and his brother Manson engaged in farming, grazing and milling on 
Cedar Creek, one and three-quarters miles from Marlboro post-office, the mill 
belonging to James R. until 1883, when he sold it to Manson P. They live 
together, however, and JameSi who is unmarried, attends to the mill while 
Manson P. attends to the farm. Politically they are deipocrats, and do 
business under the firm name of J. R. Smith & Brother. 

Harvey A. Richard, farmer, P. O. Marlboro, Va. , was born April 14, 1856, 
near Capon Bridge, Hampshire Co., W. Va. , son of Joseph P. and Nancy C. 
(Rinker) Richard, she being a daughter of Casper Rinker. Joseph P. Richard 
always followed the life of a farmer, and now owns a farm in Frederick 
county. He started in life poor, but is now comfortably well off. Our sub- 
ject is a grandson of Jacob and Margaret (Pifer) Richard, who lived in 
Frederick county all their lives near Mt. Falls. Mr. Richard's mother died 
when he was ten days old, and he was brought up by his grandfather, 
Richard. In 1878 he married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Rust, 
of Frederick county, and their children are Joseph Thomas, Charles Alwell, 
Mary E. and Rose Bell. Mr. Richard is a prosperous young farmer, own- 
ing a tract of 110 acres, located one and one-half miles from Marlboro post- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 763 

office, which he bought eleven years ago. With the exception of a small start 
from his grandfather Rinker, he has had uo assistance. When he bought 
the farm it was in a very bad condition, but he has improved it greatly, and 
is still improving it as rapidly as circumstances will permit. Being of 
steady habits and industrious, there is no doubt that he has before him a 
successful future. He is a member of the United Brethren Church and of 
the Farmer's Alliance. Politically he is a democrat. 

Anthony M. Kline, farmer, Vaucluse, was born May 3, 1813, in what 
is now known as Kline's Mill, at Vaucluse, one-fourth of a mile from where 
he now lives. He is a son of Anthony Kline, who was born July 12, 1777, 
where subject now lives, and died in 1859, and when he was seventeen years 
of age, took possession of the mill now standing, and followed the occupa- 
tion of a miller the balance of his life. He married Jemima, daughter of 
James and Keziah Russell, of Frederick county, but formerly of Maryland. 
Their children were: Eliza, died in 1889; James R. , dead; Mary, dead; 
Anthony Madison, our subject, and Martha, now Mrs. David S. Spessard, of 
Hagerstown, Md. Anthony Kline was an upright, straightforward man, 
and quite successful; and, although having little opportunity for an educa- 
tion, acquired a good knowledge of both English and German. He was 
also a natural mechanical genius. 

Mr. Kline is a grandson of Jacob Kline, who was born in 1735, in Ger- 
many, and came to this country when sixteen years old with his parents, 
who settled in Lancaster county, Penn. , but in 1763 moved to where our 
subject now lives, and remained there until his death. He was a farmer, 
and bought a farm of 400 acres for £400 (same land where Mr. Kline now 
lives), but when first bought only nine acres of it was cleared. Jacob mar- 
ried Eva Dusong, who was born in Germany, but lived in Lancaster county, 
Penn. , where the marriage took place. They were the parents of twelve 
children, only two of whom died under eighty years of age, one living to be 
ninety eight years. He gave each of his children a farm. For seventeen 
years he ran a flaxseed-oil-mill where Kline's Mill now stands, but the busi- 
ness became unprofitable. In 1794 the present log mill was built by him, 
and run by his son, the father of the subject of this sketch, which still 
stands firmly, and is used daily; part of this mill, however, was first used as 
a dwelling house, wherein, as above stated, Anthony M. was born. Mr. 
Kline, with the exception of two trips through the western country, has 
lived at his present residence all his life. In 1836 he married Emily B. , 
born in 1815, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Bro.wn) Muse, of Fred- 
erick county, and their children are Snowden B. , Charles O. (dead), Rigdon 
M. (dead), P. J. (now Mrs. James O. Kline, of Middletown), Lucy A. (dead), 
Mary E. (dead), Riden M., Olive V. (now Mrs. J. S. Sperry), Robert A. 
(dead), Thomas S, (in New Mexico), Martin T. (dead). Mr. Kline owns 



764 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

350 acres of land, which he bought in 1854 at $20 per acre. Like his 
father, he is a natural mechanical genius, and active for one of his ao-e, 
having a remarkable memory, being of excellent judgment, and closely 
observing matters in general. During the war he lost a great deal of prop- 
erty, but did not serve on either side. He served with credit as chairman 
of the board of supervisors of Frederick county for seventeen years, when 
he declined to serve longer; also serveci twice as land assessor. He is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and votes for sober and 
qualified men. 

David J. Miller, who died in February, 1SS8, was born January 25, 
1816, near Middletown on Valley pike, and lived in same vicinity during his 
life. In 1842 he married Mary E., daughter of Alfred Parkins, living near 
Winchester, and the children of this marriage were Eliza (now Mrs. L. 
M. NixdorfP, of Frederick, Md.), Mary A. (died when one year old), Joseph 
Parkins, Mary E. (died when in her sixteenth year in 1864). His first wife 
died, and in 1851 he married Catherine (who died in March, 1889) daughter 
of William and Mary Hinks of Baltimore, Md. The children of this second 
marriage are Charles Edwin, Samuel T. , Nannie S. (now Mrs. W. H. 
Smith of Woodstock, Va.), David R., Carrie R. (now Mrs. Ambrose Tim- 
berlake) and Virginia S. Mr. Miller had a small start in life, but was a 
successful farmer, possessor of 300 acres of good land including a flouring 
mill. He was an intelligent man, and served as magistrate for a number of 
years; also one term as member of the house of delegates. He was a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church and a democrat since the late war, before which 
he was a whig. During the war he lost a great deal of property, his flour- 
mill being set on fire several times, but saved. He was a grandson of Jo- 
seph Miller. 

Charles E. Miller, son of the above, was born in 1852 and with the ex- 
ception of six years has been an occupant of the homestead known as the 
Millbrook farm. The six years were spent on a farm near Stephens City. 
In 1879 he married Lizzie McKay, daughter of Jesse and Martha (Lane) 
McKay, of Warren county, but his wife died in 1882. He is now engaged 
in the flour-milling and grain business at the old Millbrook Mill, which has 
been equipped with the latest improved roller-process for flour-milling, and 
in this occupation he is doing finely. He is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church and a democrat. 

Samuel T. Miller, brother of Charles E., was born in 1854, and is now 
engaged in farming, the estate being as yet undivided, upon which the three 
heirs are now living, viz.: Charles E., Samuel T., and their sister, Vir- 
ginia S. 

Daniel Baker, farmer, Stephens City, was born in 1821, six miles east 
of Carlisle, Cumberland Co., Penn. , the son of John and Svisan (Hoover) 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. » 765 

Baker. His father was born in Lancaster county, Penn. , and his mother 
was born in York county, Penn., near Dillsburg. Their children were 
Christian, John (dead), Mary (dead) and Daniel (our subject), all born in 
Cumberland county. Mr. Baker is a grandson of Daniel and Barbara (Kel- 
ler) Baker, who were born and lived at Lititiz, in Lancaster county, Penn., 
but afterward moved to Cumberland county, Penn. His grandfather was a 
cabinet-maker by trade, but most of his time was occupied at farming. Mr. 
Baker's father was a successful farmer. Mr. Baker is a carpenter by trade, 
worked at Girard College, in Philadelphia, as such one year. In 1849 he 
came to Frederick county, Va. , worked at his trade in Winchester about a 
year, and then came to where he now lives, and followed his trade until 
1857, when he bought a farm of 250 acres, and, in the same year, he mar- 
ried Alcinda, daughter of James R. and Mary (Hammoc) Kline, of Freder- 
ick county, Va. Their children are Samuel Quainter, Susan M., Daniel C, 
Luretta A. , Emma May and Efifie. He started life poor, and has been a 
successful and enterprising man. During the Civil war he tried to remain 
neutral, and was not in favor of secession. In 1888 he started a vegetable 
canning establishment on his farm, which bids fair to be a success. Since 
1866 he has also been a minister in the German Baptist Church. Mr. Ba- 
ker is an honorable man, and highly respected by his neighbors. He takes 
no part in polities. 

George A. Grove, wagon-maker, P. O. Stephens City, Va. , was born in 
1816 in Stephens City, son of John W. Grove, who was born in 1791 and 
died in 1873, having lived in Stephens City all his life. He married Jane, 
daughter of Anthony Young, who came from Germany when seven years old 
and settled in Frederick county. To this marriage there were born seven 
children, five of whom are now living, viz. : George Addison (subject), Ann 
M. , Benjamin F., Marion Caroline (now Mrs. Alonzo P. Ludden, wife of a 
minister in New York State) and James A. John W. was a wagon-maker, 
which occupation he followed during life. He served in the war of 1812, 
and was a magistrate of Frederick county a number of years. Our subject 
was a grandson of Abraham and Rosanna (Wetzel) Grove. Abraham Grove 
was born in Stephens City and spent most of his life in Winchester at his 
trade, saddlery. 

George A. Grove has lived in Stephens City all his life. He married, in 
1846, Frances, daughter of Robert and Nancy (McCormack) Widdows, of 
Frederick county, Va. Their children are George Porterfield, Nora Vir- 
ginia (now Mrs. B. F. Willid,ms), Alonzo W., Oliver P., John R., Franklin 
and William. Mr. Grove has always followed his trade of a wagon-maker, 
in which he has been quite successful. He has served as postmaster in Ste- 
phens City for four years, having been appointed during Garfield's admin- 
istration. He also served two years in the Confederate army, in which he 



766 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

was captain of Battery C, in Johnston's army; also served as councilman in 
Stephens City a number of years. Before the war he was captain of a vol- 
unteer company several years. He is a good citizen and an intelligent gen- 
tleman, being well posted in the afPairs of his native State. Politically he 
is a conservative republican. 

Lemuel Painter, farmer, P. O. Stephens City, was born in 1830 near 
Hawkinstown and Mount Jackson, Shenandoah county, Va., son of Isaac 
Painter, born in same county, and died in 1882 at the age of seventy-nine. 
He married, about 1825, Mary C. Kline (died in 1839), daughter of Henry 
Kline, of Shenandoah county, and the children were Mary C. , Lemuel (sub- 
ject), Caroline and Ellen. Our subject is the only one now living. The 
first wife died, and in 1841 he was married to Rogina Maphis, daughter of 
William Maphis, of Shenandoah county, and their children are Erasmus, 
Fannie, Ann, Sarah Jane, Laura, William (deceased) and Robert. He was 
a member of the Lutheran Church. Lemuel, our subject, is grandson of 
George Painter, of Shenandoah county, Va. , who married Mary Reinhart, 
and was the father of four boys and four girls. Three of the boys and 
one of the girls settled in Ohio and Indiana. The Painters were large land- 
holders in Shenandoah county, Va. Our subject is a great- great-grandson 
of George Painter, and great-great-great-grandson of another George 
Painter, who was born in Germany and settled in Shenandoah county at a 
very early day, and was killed by the Indians in said county about the years 
1730 to 1740. Our subject's early life was spent on the home farm until the 
age of twenty-four. He then engaged in mercantile business at Hamburg, 
Shenandoah Co., Va., for three years, after which he engaged in farming 
and lumbering. He then engaged in milling, which he followed twenty 
years. In 1879 he came to where he now lives and bought a farm of 198 
acres. He has been a successful man, although he had little start in life. 
He is a member of the Lutheran Church and of the Farmers' Alliance; 
served six months in the Confederate army. In 1858 our subject married 
May C. Hottle, daughter of Henry and Mary C. {nee CofPman) Hottle, of 
Shenandoah county, Va. , and their children are Charles E. (living in Phil- 
adelphia), Lucy (died in infancy), James E. (died in infancy), Cora E., 
William H., Robert L., Frank W., Carrie F., Kate F. and Harry H. He is 
a democrat. 

Adam Barley, farmer, P. O. Stephens city, was born July 18, 1825, 
two miles southeast of Winchester, on the Millwood road, known as Neil 
Sulphur Spring, son of Adam Barley, who was buried the same day his son 
was born, and lived in the same neighborhood all his life. He was a farmer 
and plow- maker, and made the old-time plows, with wooden mold- boards. 
He was not as successful, however, as our subject. He married Lydia 
Mercer, daughter of Job and Margaret (Gordon) Mercer, of English descent; 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 767 

she died in 1855, at the age of seventy-two years. Their children were 
John, Margaret, Peter, Mary, Harriet, Louisa, William, and Adam our 
subject. Louisa and Adam are the only children now living. Our subject 
is a son of Adam and Lydia Barley, who were married and lived and died 
in Frederick county, Va. Mr. Barley has always been occupied as a farmer, 
he and his brother Peter renting various farms until 1880, when Peter died. 
In 1885 he came to where he now resides, one mile and a half west of 
Stephens City and bought a farm of 167 acres; also a small timber tract 
about two miles distant. The farm is well improved with new buildings, 
etc. He commenced in life poor, and lost considerable during the war, as 
well as by bad loans, etc. ; but with it all he has been successful, owino- to 
his own industry. He is a member of the Farmer's Alliance, and since the 
war has been a democrat. In 1872 he married Harriet Ann Gordon, of 
Frederick county, and his children are: Arvis J., Cora A., Casper W. , Hunter 
E. , Mary V. , Martha J. , Maggie M. (the last three named being triplets 
two of whom died when about one year old), Anna L., Harry W. , John 
Franklin and Miller Stickley. His grandfather Barley came from Germany, 
and his great-grandfather Mercer was from England. 

M. A. Wise, farmer, lives one mile south of Stephens City. His farm 
of 325 acres is pleasantly located, giving a good view of Stephens City and 
the surrounding country. Mr. Wise moved to his present farm about twenty 
years ago. He has been quite a successful farmer, and a respected citizen 
and industrious man. He is a member of the Methodist Church South, and 
a democrat. 

Lewis White Hale (deceased) was' born in 1804 at Stephens City, and 
died August 30, 1881. He was a son of Lewis E. Hale, who was born in 
Taswell, Tenn. , a farmer by occupation. He served during the whole of the 
war of 1812. He moved to Stephens City and lived there at the birth of 
subject, but afterward returned to the place of his birth, where he died. 
After his death Lewis W. , the only child, was brought to Stephens City 
again, by his aunt. He received comparatively little education up to the 
time of his marriage, and was occupied as a farmer and wagoner, transport- 
ing goods from Winchester to Tennessee. He tirst married Martha, daugh- 
ter of Mrs. Mary Shields, of Frederick county, who died without issue. He 
then married Mary, daughter of John and Mary Emmet, of same county, 
who bore him the following children: Lewis E. (living in Philadelphia), 
Mary Virginia (now Mrs. JohnM. Wise, living at Pawnee Rock, Kas.). After 
the death of the second wife he married Sallie, daughter of John and Mary 
(Whetzell) Wilson, of Frederick county, and of German descent on* maternal 
side. The children to this marriage are: John Carter, now living on the 
home farm with his mother, and who married, in 1881, Varina Willis, daugh- 
ter of James and Martha (Yowell) Willis, of Clarke county, and who has 



768 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

had born to him four children: Francis W. (died in infancy), Mattie Bell, 
Lolo Burwell and Page Randolph. The second child to Lewis W. is Hen- 
rietta (now Mrs. Richard Stimmell, of Frederick county), another, James B. , 
died in infancy. Mr. Hale followed wagoning, then milling and distilling. 
He was elected commissioner of revenue of Frederick county, and served 
four years, after which he came to where his widow and son, J. C. Hale, 
now live, and bought a farm of 232 acres, known as Locust Dale, and bal- 
ance of his life was occupied in farming. The place is one and a half miles 
south of Stephens City. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and a class-leader in the same, and at his death was the oldest Odd 
Fellow of his lodge at Winchester; was a democrat. 

John Huber, Sr., farmer, Stephens City, was born August 5, 1824, at 
Jones' Mill, Westmoreland Co., Penn., son of John Huber, born January 
31, 1792, near Waynesboro, Penn., and died September 4, 1872, his occu- 
pation being that of a farmer and blacksmith. In 1816 he married Chris- 
tina Stover, born August 16, 1791, daughter of Michael Stover, of Franklin 
county, Penn. She died March 26, 1848. Their children are: Lizzie, born 
May 21, 1818; David, born November 29, 1819; Nancy, born September 1, 
1822; John Huber, born August 5, 1824; Rebecca, born July 31, 1826; 
Easter, born April 8, 1828; Henry S., born April 24, 1830; Christina, born 
May 17, 1833; Susanna Huber was born April 14, 1835; Sarah Huber was 
born November 29, 1837. He served in the war of 1812; went from 
Waynesboro to Westmoreland county, and lived there as a farmer and 
teamster for six years. He then returned to Franklin county, Penn., and 
lived near Waynesboro for twenty years. In 1851 he moved to near Cham- 
bersburg, where he lived during the late war, a strong Union man and a 
republican in politics. In 1871 he came to Stephens City, Va., where he 
died in 1872. John, our subject, is a grandson of Jacob Huber, a farmer 
of Lancaster county, Penn., and worked on the farm for his parents till 
twenty- four years of age, and then served as a teamster in Baltimore for 
eighteen months, but again returned to Waynesboro. In 1849 he married 
Sarah Foreman, born April 25, 1825, daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth 
(Riddlesperger) Foreman. They had children as follows: Elizabeth, died 
young; John, born May 21, 1852, and married Rebecca Hoover, of Ste- 
phens City, a daughter of John Hoover; Samuel, born February 25, 1854, 
died May 16, 1871; Mary, born December 29, 1855, died in 1858; Catherine, 
born January 24, 1858; Anna Bell, born January 24, 1860; George W., born 
February 22, 1862; William, born October 10, 1864. In 1867 John Huber 
came to where he now lives, three miles east of Stephens City, Va., and 
bought a farm of 175 acres, which he has improved greatly. He is a pros- 
perous and industrious farmer. Sent a substitute to the Union army, and is 
a republican. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 769 

Andrew J. Thomas, farmer, Marfcinsburg, is a resident of Opequon dis- 
trict, Berkeley Co., W. Va. , and was born June 2, 1819. He was mar- 
ried in his native county, February 18, 1863, to Nannie H. , daughter of 
David and Eliza (Kearney) Seibert, residents of Berkeley county. Mrs. 
Thomas was born in this county, October 7, 1838. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas 
have three adopted children whose home is with them. Their names are 
George E., born March 23, 1861; William P., born in September, 1865, 
and Berkeley R., February 8, 1866. Mr. Thomas was elected sheriff in 
1870, was re-elected in 1872 and served until 1877. James Thomas and 
Joseph Seibert, brothers, respectively, to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, were sol- 
diers in the war, serving in the Confederate army. Mr. Thomas is an ex- 
tensive farmer, and his success in life has been largely through his own 
efforts. He enjoys the high esteem of his neighbors and fellow-citizens. 

G. Lewis Dull, farmer, Middletown, is a native of Augusta county, Va. , 
and is the son of George Dull, also of that county and of German ancestry, 
as was his wife. His father was a prominent farmer in Augusta county. 
Mr. Dull came to this county in April, 1884, and purchased 225 acres of 
lani, originally a portion of the Hite property and formerly belonging to 
Caroline H. Heater. Mr. Dull has been a farmer all his life, and was en- 
gaged in that occupation for many years in Augusta county, where he was 
at one time a justice of the peace. Mr. Dull's farm was the scene of active 
operations during the Civil war. Gen. Whiting having had his headquarters 
there. He was united in marriage to Susan V. , daughter of Jacob Bow- 
man, a member of one of the old families. Their family consists of two 
daughters, Hattie and Eloise. Mr. Dull belongs to the Masonic fraternity 
and to the Lutheran Church, and is a believer in democratic principles. 

Stickley Family. This family is of German lineage. David Stickley 
came to Virginia and settled on Cedar creek and owned large tracts of land 
in Shenandoah county. He married Mary Harman, and to them were born 
live children — three sons and two daughters. Mr. Stickley served in the 
war of 1812, and was a prominent and successful farmer. Abraham was 
one of the youngest of David Stickley' s children. He was born in 1792 
and died in 1875. He was brought up in Shenandoah county, but in 1816 
moved to the Crissman Spring, which he purchased and also 600 acres of 
land. He married Rachel Murphy, and they became the parents of four 
children, three of whom are now living: B, F., William M. (deceased), 
Annie E. and David A. Abraham was a successful farmer. He was taken 
a prisoner in Berkeley county during the war; was loyal to the Confederacy 
and a true patriot of his native state. He was a public-spirited, enterpris- 
ing man, and after his death his estate was divided among his children. 
He owned some 800 acres of land, 192 of which now belong to his daugh- 
ter, Ann E. Stickley, a maiden lady. 



770 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Arthur N. Bragg, farmer, Middletown, Frederick Co. , Va. , was born in 
1823. He is the son of George and Anna (Wood) Bragg, of Rappahan- 
nock county, Va. George Bragg died at the age of eighty-four years, and 
was a native of Prince William county, Va. , and a son of Docia Bragg. 
This family is of English origin. To George Bragg and wife were born 
seven children — five sons and two daughters. George was a leading and 
successful farmer. Commencing life poor he gained what he possessed by 
his own efforts. A. N. Bragg, his son, has spent his entire life in this 
Valley, with the exception of three years in Iowa, and has made farming 
his occupation. He was married to Mary H. , daughter of George Wright. 
To A. N. Bragg and wife was born one son, G. W. Bragg, who is a musi- 
cian by profession, and married to Carrie A., daughter of Dr. Charles 
Sydnor, of Strasburg, Va. Mr. Bragg, by his industry, integrity and per- 
severance has been successful. He is a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church South, and a democrat. His brother, Wlliam H. Bragg, who 
resided in Brunswick, Mo., is now dead. He by his strict integrity and 
industry made life quite a success, and thereby gained the high esteem of 
his fellow- men. His brother, B. John Bragg, now residing in Brunswick, 
Mo., is a very successful agriculturist. His brother, Dr. George Edward 
Bragg, is now engaged in practicing medicine in Nebraska, where he has 
had marked success for many years. His only sister, the widow of David 
S. Rhodes, is living on the old homestead near Middletown, Va. 

Henry Cooper (deceased), the father of Samuel and Watson Cooper, was 
born in 1794 and died in 1869; he married Magdalene Eshelmen of Shenan- 
doah county, Va. , and they were the parents of ten children, three of whom 
are still living. Mr. Cooper was a successful wagon-maker, and had con- 
siderable reputation as such in the surrounding country. Samuel Cooper 
was born in 1822, and married Margaret Rudolph, daughter of Adam Ru- 
dolph, of Shenandoah county, Va. , and had three children born to him, all liv- 
ing; he is a successful farmer living on Cedar creek, near the Star Tannery. 
W^atson C. Cooper has been a merchant and postmaster at Star Tannery for 
some years. He married Emma Fawcett, daughter of Elkanah Fawcett, of 
Frederick county, Va., and has one son, Harry T. Cooper. The third son of 
Henry Cooper (deceased) is Henry J. Cooper, who married Mary Rudolph, 
of Hampshire county, W. Va., and now resides near Davis, Tucker Co., W. 
Va. The entire Cooper family are members of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church. Henry Cooper, whose name heads this sketch, was a son of Frederick 
Cooper, born in 1764 and died in 1815. He married Hannah Richards, 
sister of John and Henry Richards, of English nationality. 

John Thomas Ogden (deceased) was a son of Thomas Ogden, of this 
Valley, and was born in 1814, and died May 10, 1881. He was a farmer, 
and commenced life at the foot of the ladder, but by the aid of his sons 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 771 

met with success. He was twice married, his first wife being Matilda Roe, 
and by her was the father of nine children, eight of whom are living. His 
second wife was Mary Ann, daughter of Isaac Keller, a farmer of Shenan- 
doah county, and by her had eleven children, eight of whom are living. 
Alexander Thomas, Martha Julia, Eliza Catherine, Mary Jane, Rebecca 
Caroline, Frances Matilda, George W., Leah Emily, William Arthur, are 
children of the first wife. The children of the second are C. T. , Joseph, 
Henry, Alice Virginia, Lucretia Vennor Lee, Luther Livingston, Emma 
Irene, Lilla Bell, Elmer Victor, Minnie Gertrude, and Qnintillian Ogden. 
Mr. Ogden owned 550 acres of land, originally a part of the Maj. Hite 
property, which he purchased of Boyd & Barton. He was a member of the 
Disciples Church, and placed his ballot on the democratic side of the scales. 

B. C. Shull, farmer, P. O. Marlboro. The earliest members of this 
family in this section were Jonathan Shull and his wife, whose maiden 
name was Whissen; he was a blacksmith, but followed farming. They set- 
tled in Frederick county, and were the parents of thirteen children, viz. : 
Elizabeth, Jonathan, Abraham, Mary, Catherine, Rachael, Michael, Lucy, 
Rebecca, Elijah, Maria, Matilda and William, all of whom grew to maturity, 
married, and raised families. Elijah Shull, father of our subject, was mar- 
ried to Harriet Johnson, of this Valley. Their family consisted of seven 
children, six of whom are living: Edmonia, Godfrey, B. C. , Birdie, Sallie 
and Charley. 

B. C. Shull was born in 1842, and educated in the neighborhood schools. 
When nineteen years of age he enlisted in Company C, Twelfth Virginia 
Cavalry, and served till the close of the war. After the war he engaged in 
farming, and has since followed that occupation. In 1871 he was joined in 
marriage to Emma Hancock, and to them were born eight children: Her- 
bert Hancock, Horace G., Howard Elijah, Bess Briscoe, Russell Jamison, 
Fred Holliday, Birdie Kesiah and Charles Cover. Mr. Shull is an energetic, 
ambitious business man, and believes in the principles of the democratic 
party. 

Edward H. Jones, farmer, P. O. Winchester. James Jones, father of 
our subject, was born in Frederick county in 1791, on the farm known as 
Greenwood, owned by his father, James, who came from Pennsylvania, and 
took up a large tract of land at an early day. He was one of three children 
born to his parents. In 1817 he was joined in marriage to Eleanor Mar- 
quis, originally of Frederick county. Born of this union were five sons, 
three of whom are living: Edward H. , Joseph and Marquis; James died 
in 1871, and his wife (born in 1791) died in 1873. James made farming 
his occupation. William, Marquis and Joseph served in the Southern army, 
and during the war their father suffered severe losses. William died in 
1861, and James, a brother, in 1888. Joseph and Edward H. own 650 



772 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

acres of land. Mr. Jones is a member of the Presbyterian Church, as his 
parents were before him. Politically he is a democrat. 

NiMEOD Keen, retired miller and farmer, is of German descent, his 
grandfather, Adam Kern, having come from Germany, and settled where 
the town of Kernstown now stands, and after whom the town was named. 
Nimrod Kern is among the oldest citizens of Frederick county. He made 
farming his chief occupation, but for fourteen years was engaged in the 
milling and ice business. He was married to Eliza, daughter of George 
and Catherine Bentley. Four children were born to them, three of whom 
are now living: Bentley, Lona A. and John Adam. Mr. Kern adheres to 
the Methodist faith and votes the republican ticket. 

Festus Hahn, miller, Winchester, was born in Shenandoah county, Va. , 
in 1832, and spent his early life there. His father, Jacob Hahn, was also a 
native of that county. In 1856 Festus Hahn came to Winchester, and in 
1873 purchased the mill he now owns, a three-story stone structure, hand- 
some and substantial. It was built by Isaac Hollingsworth, in 1834, and 
has been recently fitted up by the present owner, with new and improved 
machinery. The most important improvement consists of the " Butler 
Roller Process," for the manufacture of the finest grades of flour. The 
machinery is operated by a twenty-horse-power steam engine. In 1869 Mr. 
Hahn was wedded to Sidney, daughter of James Swartz, and the result of 
that union is five children, all of whom are living. He is a self-made man, 
and, by energy and industry, has been successful in his business ventures. 
He is a member of the Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Society, and in poli- 
tics is a democrat. 

Abkaham Polhamus (deceased) was born in New Jersey in 1814, and was 
the son of John and Polly (Luvin) Polhamus, who were the parents of five 
children — three sons and two daughters — Abraham being the third child. 
John was a farcfier, and a native of New Jersey. Abraham spent his 
early life in Paterson, N. J. He was married, in 1837, to Jane, daugh- 
ter of John Fennell and Sallie Gould, a cousin of the millionaire, Jay 
Gould. Their family consisted of nineteen children, ten of whom are liv- 
ing. Mr. Polhamus commenced life poor, and it was entirely by his own 
efforts that he became the possessor of 600 acres of land. He came to the 
farm on which his widow now resides in January, 1868, having purchased 
562J acres of land. He died January 25, 1890, a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

Amos Pierce (deceased) son of John and Mary (Buchanan) Pierce, was 
born in 1809. John Pierce was a blacksmith by trade, and Amos followed 
his father's calling. He was twice married, his first wife being Mahala 
Whiteford, of this county, and the second, Elizabeth M. Snapp. Two chil- 
dren are now living: Hugh O. and Dauphis A. Mr. Pierce was a successful 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 773 

man, having owned 275 acres of land. Both he and his wife are members 
of the Baptist Church. Mr. Pierce was a republican, politically. 

A. B. RicHAKDS, farmer, F. O. Winchester, was born in Shenandoah 
county, Va., in 1852. He is the son of James M. and Margaret E. (Fry) 
Richards, who were the parents of seven children, six of whom are living. 
James M. Richards was a merchant of Winchester in his early life, and later 
he became a farmer of Shenandoah county. His son, A. B. Richards, pur- 
chased the farm on which he now lives in 1881, consisting of 150 acres. 
formerly the property of Robert Glass. In 1875 Mr. Richards was united 
in marriage to Josephine, daughter of Rufus and Solma Henestoffle, of this 
county, and they became the parents of six children. Mr. Richards is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and votes the democratic 
ticket. A. B. Richards' grandfather and his brother came fi'om England, 
and became wealthy business men of Frederick county, Va. 

M. E. Baylis, merchant and farmer, P. O. Rain, was born in Fred- 
erick county, Va., September 21, 1831. His father, Thomas Baylis, was 
married to Mary K., daughter of William Wilson, of Maryland, who came 
to Virginia in his young days. Thomas Baylis was the son of Henry Baylis, 
who came from Fauquier county, Va., and was a major in the Revolutionary 
war, settling here after the great struggle for independence. He was united 
in marriage to Sophia Edmunds, and they were the parents of seven chil- 
dren — three sons and four daughters, Thomas being the third child. To 
Thomas Baylis and wife were born eleven children, eight now living: Cath- 
erine (Mrs. Mumit, of Kansas), John W., Mary Ann (Mrs. Wisecarver), M. 
E., Harriet (Mrs. Snapp), Margaret E., Milton H. and Amanda (Mrs. 
Boyce). Thomas Baylis was a school teacher, mechanic and farmer; he was 
a soldier in the war of 1812, and died in 18G9, at the age of seventy-six 
years. 

Our subject, M. E. Baylis, is the oldest member of the family living in 
this place. He married Mary L., daughter of John Wilson, and their family 
consists of three children: Minnie E., Eunie E. and Vennor N. Mr. Baylis 
is a democrat, and has held the position of postmaster for four years. 

E. Fawcett, farmer, Fawcett's Gap, was born in Frederick county, Va., 
in 1820. His father was Joseph, and his grandfather Thomas Fawcett, 
who came from Warren county to Frederick county. Thomas Fawcett was 
the father of fourteen children, Joseph being among the eldest. It was in 
1797 that Thomas Fawcett came to what is now Shawnee district and set- 
tled on a large tract of land received from his father. This family is of 
Irish descent, some of their ancestors having come from near Belfast, Ire- 
land. Joseph was eleven years of age when his parents came to Frederick 
county. He married Mary Branson of this county, and they became the 
parents of five children. He died in 1864 at the age of seventy eight years, 



774 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

having been a successful business man. E. Fawcett, our subject, married 
Margaret, daughter of Martin Funkhouser, and to them were born 
nine children, eight of whom are living. Mr. Fawcett is engaged in the 
saw-mill business and farming; is a member of the Society of Friends, and a 
republican politically. W. Fenn Fawcett, son of E. Fawcett, a graduate of 
the Phrenological Institute, of New York City, is the most noted phrenolo- 
gist in this part of the state. T. Fink Fawcett, another of his sons, is post- 
master at Fawcett' s Gap, Frederick county, Va. 

Robert Bark (deceased) was born June 27, 1811, and died March 3, 1872. 
He was the son of Robert and Araminta (Avery) Barr, of Alexandria, Va. 
Mr. Barr' s first wife was Mary, daughter of Peter Kremer, and five children 
were the result of this union. His second wife was Sidney, daughter of 
Abel Jackson, and to the second marriage eight children were born, four now 
living: R. Virginia, Louis J., R. Frank and Robert. Robert Barr at his 
death left 180 acres of land and |6,000 worth of property in Winchester. 
He was a bricklayer by occupation and also followed farming. He belonged 
to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was independent in his political 
views. 

John C. Coe, farmer, Winchester, was born October 7, 1836, and is the 
son of John and Louisa (Fenton) Coe, the former of whom was born in 1800, 
and died in 1853. Their family consisted of eight children. John, Sr. , 
was engaged in farming and teaming for fourteen years. He moved from 
Baltimore to Tennessee. Our subject's grandfather, William Coe, was a 
native of Maryland, and moved to Loudoun county, and there married a 
sister of Joshua Gore, of that county. He was a reasonably successful 
farmer. His children were all born in Loudoun county. William, one of 
his sons, was a farmer and lived in Gainsboro district, on the farm now 
owned by his brother Craven. John C. Coe, the subject of this sketch, is 
now a farmer of Frederick county, and for five years was baggage-master and 
conductor on the Illinois Central Railroad. He lived in the state of Illinois 
ten years, during four of which he was steward in the Hospital for the 
Insane at Jacksonville, under Dr. Andrew McFarland. In 1858 he married 
Celia, daughter of Samuel Collins, of Toledo, Ohio, and their family con- 
sists of two children. Mr. Coe is the possessor of 250 acres of land, 
originally the Senseny property. He has been engaged in farming and 
dairying for fourteen years. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and 
the Odd Fellows, also of the Presbyterian Church, and is a democrat. 

William Jobe, woolen manufacturer, Brucetown, was born in 1809. 
His father, Henry Jobe, was a native of Pennsylvania, born near the banks 
of the Susquehanna river, served in the war of 1812, and came to Martins- 
burg, W. Va., when a young man. He was married to Elizabeth, daughter 
of Henry Miller, who served in the Revolutionary war. Mr. Miller was also 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 775 

a native of Pennsylvania, and came to Virginia at an early period. To 
Henry Jobe and wife were born live children — three sons and two daughters, 
of whom three are living. Their children all grew to maturity with the 
exception of the youngest. William Jobe, the subject of this sketch, received 
a limited education in the country schools, and when sixteen years of age 
he left his childhood' s home. He served as an apprentice five years, and 
then commenced work for himself, engaging in the manufacture of woolen 
goods. In 1864 Mr. Jobe came to Brucetown and purchased 200 acres of 
land and started the Brucetown woolen factory, previously known as Holmes' 
Mills. He married there and became the father of eleven children, six now 
at home: Isabella, Rosella, William, Henry, Susan and Grace. Mr. Jobe 
began life poor, and by his own labor and perseverance has attained a com- 
petency. He is a democrat. 

John W. McKown, farmer. Grimes, was born in Berkeley county, W. 
Va. , in 1838, and is a son of Warner and Anna (Silvers) McKown. They 
were the parents of ten children, of whom John was the fourth. Warner 
McKown was also a native of Berkeley county, W. Va. , and was a son of 
Samuel McKown, of Irish descent, and a successful farmer. Warner Mc- 
Kown came to Frederick county in 1840, and purchased 400 acres of land. 
He remained there until his death, in 1864, having reached the age of sixty- 
four years. He was educated at a private school; was joined in marriage to 
Fannie, daughter of Alfred Clevenger. To them were born three children: 
Wm. A. , Clara A. and Ada G. Mr. McKown has engaged in agriculture 
throughout his life, and has been eminently successful. He is a member of 
the Christian or Disciples Church, and casts his vote with the democratic 
party. He has served as road commissioner for three terms of two years 
each. Mr. McKown is a well-to-do and highly respected farmer, and an 
honest and upright citizen. 

James T. Clevenger, farmer, Grimes, was born in Clarke county in 
1837. He is a son of Alfred Clevenger and grandson of John Clevenger, 
who was a farmer and resided in this county, and owned a tract of land 
here. Alfred Clevenger married Rebecca D. Grantham, and to them were 
born five children: Jas. T., Jos. H., Noah Scott, John N. and Sarah F. 
Alfred was a successful farmer, and died at the age of seventy-one years. 
James T. was educated in the schools of the county and at Winchester, 
under J. W. Marvin. He has always engaged in farming, and owns 1,000 
acres of land. In 1861 he was joined in marriage to Constance, daughter 
of Chas. E. Evard, originally of Switzerland. Their family consists of four 
children: Louie R., 'Robert G., Ernest B. and Carrie I. He is a member 
of the Disciples Church, and a democrat. Mr. Clevenger has been un- 
usually successful, and he is now one of the wealthiest farmers in Frederick 
county. 



776 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

George H. Stottlemyer, farmer, Winchester. The grandfather of our 
subject was born, lived and died near Frederick City, Md. His father was 
born and spent his early life at the same place. When our subject was 
born, December 17, 1827, his father lived near Bath, in Morgan county, 
W. Va. , and was a carpenter by trade. He married Mary, daughter of 
Jeremiah Meaks, of Maryland. Their children were Joseph, Ann E. , Davalt, 
and George H. , who came to Frederick county, Va. , when eight years of 
age. He has been occupied the greater part of the time as a merchant, but is 
now farming near Winchester. He served for a number of years as con- 
stable, deputy sheriff, and commissioner of revenue. He married Jaekaline 
M. , daughter of James Williams, of Gainsboro, Va. , and unto them were 
born eight children: Josephine A., John R. , George H. , James W., Laura 
v., Mary E., and two who died in infancy — Scott and Florence. Mr. 
Stottlemyer is a member of the Southern Methodist Church. 

Charles L. Wood (deceased) was a son of Isaac Wood, who was bocn 
and raised on the estate owned by and on which his widow now resides. 
He, Isaac, married Maria Littler, of Frederick county, and of this marriage 
our subject is the eldest son, who was born November 29, 1819, and at the 
age of eighteen engaged in the mercantile business until the death of his 
father, Isaac, from whom he received the present estate of 600 acres, 
known as the Redbud farm, including a flouring mill known by the same 
name; also a woolen factory. In 1847 he married Rebecca Birdsell, 
daughter of John and Mary Birdsell, of Loudoun county, Va., who died in 
1854. She bore one child, Margaret Ann, who died in 1851. He was 
again married in 1857, to Mary C. Rector, daughter of Edward Rector, of 
Loudoun county, and to this marriage were born two children: Nannie, 
now Mrs. George W. Bowley; Henry Moore Brent, who died, in infancy. 
Mr. and Mrs. Bowley are residents of Atlanta, Ga. , where Mr. Bowley is 
engaged as a salesman. The Bowleys are the parents of the following 
children: Elizabeth, born December 24, 1876, died December 29, 1876; 
Lillian Holliday, born August 21, 1878; Charles Littler, born July 6, 1880; 
He3^wood W^irgman, born December 7, 1881; George McKinn, born No- 
vember 11, 1883; and Marshal Hubard, born June 29, 1886. Mr. and Mrs. 
Bowley are members of the Episcopal Church. Our subject lost heavily 
during the war, and at one time part of the farm was used as a field 
hospital. The older members of the Wood family were connected with the 
Society of Friends. 

William M. Jefferson, farmer, P. O. Rest. Our subject's grandfather 
was an Episcopal minister at Charleston, W. Va. , where afterward he en- 
gaged in the mercantile business until 1834, when he moved to Frederick 
county, Va. , to what is known as Woodville farm, and there followed farm- 
ing the balance of his life. He married Lucy E., daughter of Francis and 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 777 

Ann Silvers. To them were born Anna (now the wife of John K. Cunning- 
ham), Francis, William Mead, Sophia, Benjamin, Eddie, Charles and Ger- 
trude, the latter of whom died in 1869. William M. Jefferson, our subject, 
was born February 26, 1842, at Woodville farm, where he now lives, said 
farm being a part of the Woodville estate owned by his mother and divided 
among her children. Mr. Jefferson married Sarah, daughter of Amos 
Payne, and to them two children have been born: George L. and Taylor. 
During the war Mr. Jefferson served four years in the Confederate army. 

William McCormack, retired farmer, P. O. Pleasant Valley. His 
father was born in Jefferson county, Va. , and during the war of 1812 served 
as a driver of an ordnance wagon for three months, going as far as Norfolk, 
Va. , for which he received a pension in his latter days. He then followed 
farming near Martinsburg until 1825, when he came to Frederick county, 
Va.,. settling between White Hall and Pleasant Valley, where he purchased 
a farm of 218 acres. He married Jane Graham, who was born in Delaware, 
and losing her father when quite young she was brought up by an uncle 
living near Smithfield, Jefferson Co. , Va. The children of this union were 
Hiram; Elizabeth, born in December, 1816; George AVashington, August 
8, 1819; William, October 8, 1821; Harrison, March 20, 1823; Andrew J.; 
Levi, May 8, 1826; Harriet, 1828; Richard, in August, 1829; Mary J., 
October 15, 1830; John B., December 31, 1832, and Lucy, October 26, 
1837. Mr. McCormack' s father died in 1853, aged sixty-three years, and 
his mother died March 1, 1875. Our subject was born October 8, 1821, 
near Martinsburg, and worked for his parents until thirty years of age. He 
engaged in the mercantile business for eleven years at Pleasant Valley, after 
that at farming and is now retired. In 1884 he married Mary E., widow 
of Alfred Clevenger, and daughter of George Miller, of Shenandoah 
county, Va. Mr. McCormack is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and a republican. During the war he was a strong Union sympa- 
thizer. 

John McCormack, farmer, P. O. White Hall, a brother of William Mc- 
Cormack, was born December 31, 1832, one mile east of White Hall, where 
he now resides, engaged in farming and lumbering. He married, March 
18, 1875, Sarah M., daughter of Michael Anderson, living near Rock Enon 
Springs. They are the parents of two children: Holly B. (born December 
27, 1875) and Nellie R. (born July 20, 1877). He is a republican and was a 
union sympathizer during the Civil war. 

Ottiwell Wood lived in Lancastershire, England, and had two sons. 
John Wood, his cousin, was a distinguished member of parliament, and was 
always a strong defender of civil and religious liberty. He was a church- 
man and was never married. Thomas Wood was born in Lancastershire, 
England, and immigrated to America with his wife and two sons and settled 



778 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH YALLEY. 

in Chester county, Pena., about 1725; date not exactly known. His sons, 
William and Joseph, married in America, and the late Chief Justice Swayne, 
of the United States supreme court, was a descendant of William Wood. 
Joseph Wood, the second son of William, was born in Chester county, 
Penn. , in 1754, and died in Frederick county, Va. , in 1816. His son Isaac 
was born in 1787 and died in 1855. He lived about four miles from Win- 
chester and had eight children, his wife being Maria Littler, of Frederick 
county; only one son survives them, Daniel T. Wood, living on the Win- 
chester and Berry ville road, live miles from the former place; he has six 
children living. 

Chakles B. Spenglee, farmer, P. O. Winchester, is a son of Philip H. 
Spengler, who was born and remained during his life at Strasburg, Shenan- 
doah Co., Va. , his occupation being farming. He married Catherine A. 
Cook, daughter of Jacob Cook, who bore him the following children: Lem- 
uel, Charles, Molly, Kate, Ann and John. Charles, our subject, was born 
in 1831, and educated in the village schools. His first wife was Columbia 
Spengler, of Strasburg, and to them two children were born: Virginia, now 
Mrs. W. B. Rutherford, and Hugh Lee. Mr. Spengler married, a second 
time, in Winchester, in 1872, Mrs. Virginia Browning, widow of Maj. 
Geo. F. Browning, of Massachusetts (a Union oflEicer during the war), and 
daughter of Charles E. Evard, of Winchester. They lived in Strasburg 
until 1873, when they came to the Hackwood farm near Winchester, where 
they now reside. To them two children were born: Roberta B. and Jacque- 
lind E. Their residence was erected by Mrs. Gen. Smith, and afterward, 
with the farm, became the property of Felix Robert, an uncle of Mrs. Charles 
Spengler, and at his death was divided between Mrs. Spengler and her 
sister, Mrs. J. T. Clevenger. The house has lately undergone extensive 
repairs. The building now used as a kitchen is said to have been used by 
Gen. Washington at one time. The same building was occupied by Union 
officers during the late war, and used as a hospital on the 19th of Septem- 
ber, 1864, after the battle of Cedar Creek. . Gen. Thomas and the soldiers 
of Vermont have erected a monument on this farm at a spot where a num- 
ber of Vermont soldiers were killed on the above date. Mr. Spengler and 
family are members of the Presbyterian Church. 

William Lodge, farmer. White Hall, is a grandson of William Lodge, 
who was born and lived in Loudoun county, Va , farming being Bis occupa- 
tion. He married Christina Purcell, and their children were Samuel, 
William, Joseph, Abner, Laban, Mary and Samuel. His father, Samuel 
Lodge, was born in 1790, remaining with his father until he married Re- 
becca, daughter of Robert Russell. His father then gave him a farm 
adjoining the home place. Their children were Nathan, William, Emily, 
Mary, Elizabeth, Robert (who died when five years old), Caroline (died 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 779 

when three years old), Fleet (died when an infant) and Henrietta. William, 
the subject of this sketch, was born February 6, 1820, in Loudoun county, 
Va. , and when twenty-seven years of age moved to where he now lives, 
three-quarters of a mile from White Hall. He married Rebecca J. , daugh- 
ter of John and Mary Purcell, of Loudoun county, Va. Their children are 
Anna, Virginia (now the wife of Wilson W. Bowles, of Clarke county), 
Laura,' Rosanna and John W. Mr. Lodge owns a farm of 200 acres, left 
him by his father, also a farm of 125 acres two miles north of White Hall, 
and 110 acres of slate land west of White Hall. 

John D. Adams, farmer. William Adams, grandfather of John D. 
Adams, was born and died in Frederick county, Va. , and lived on a farm 
about ten miles northwest of Winchester. He married Hannah Mellon, and 
their children were Thomas, Hannah, Rachel, William and Isaac. Thomas 
Adams, father of our subject, was born in 1772, and died in 1852, a farmer 
also. He married Lena, daughter of Martin and Rachel Quick, and their 
children are William W., Martin M., Elenora A., Franklin M., Albena, 
James H. , Thomas J. and John S. The subject of this sketch was born in 
1832, and married Hannah, daughter of Gideon Zirkle, of Shenandoah 
county, Va. They are the parents of six children, four of whom are living, 
viz.: William Z., Charles R., Gertrude M. and John S. Mr. Adams had 
comparatively no start in the way of heritage, but through industry and 
perseverance, he now owns a fine farm of 317 acres of land, with good im- 
provements. Mr. Adams is a democrat, politically. 

John AV. Bailey, farmer, P. O. White Hall, Va. , was born May 16, 1843, 
at Green Spring. His life has been spent in the same vicinity in various 
pursuits, but mostly as a farmer; from 1866 to 1868 as a merchant at White 
Hall, this county, and part of the time engaged in lumbering. Mr. Bailey 
married Lizzie M. , daughter of John Swartz and Ellen E. (Harrison) Swartz, 
of Gainsboro. The children of this union are Mary E., Rosa B., Minnie 
L. ,and James W. (who died in 1887). Mr. Bailey is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South, and of the Good Templars. Politically 
he is a democrat. The farm on which he now lives was left him by his 
father, but, by industry and skillful management, he has bought another 
farm of 210 acres, forty acres of which he has sold to William Stimmel. 
Mr. Bailey's grandfather, William P. Bailey, came from Loudoun county, 
Va. , to White Hall, but afterward moved to Green Spring, and there en- 
gaged in manufacturing woolens; he also owned a farm of 260 acres at the 
same place. He married a Miss Lee Ridgway. Their children were Jesse, 
David, Charity, Rachel, William and James M. William P. Bailey died in 
183- After his death, his son, William Bailey, purchased the factory of 
the other heirs, and carried on the business some time, then rented it out, 
and farmed until 1860, when he engaged in business in partnership with 



780 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Hezekiah Bowman until the spring of 1861, when the factory was destroyed 
by fire. Mr. Bailey's father, William Bailey, was born at Green Spring in 
1805. and died March 23, 1878; he was engaged with his father in the 
woolen business until 1861, when the factory was destroyed by fire. Then 
he bought a farm of eighty six acres, two miles distant, at the head of Green 
Spring, and remained a farmer. He married Mary Ann Swhier, born in 
1813, widow of Jacob Swhier, and daughter of John Hott. John Hott's 
wife was a Miss Friese. Their children were John W., Jesse R., Ann Vir- 
ginia, Harriet J., Charles P., and James D. , who died young. 

John N. Rees, farmer, P. O. White Hall, Frederick Co. , Va. , traces 
his ancestry back to David Rees, of Welsh descent, who was born March 15, 
1730 (no record of birthplace)', and died November 13, 1812, aged eighty- 
two years and eight months. David Rees was the father of the following 
children: Jacob, grandfather of the subject of this sketch (born 15th of the 
third month, 1757, in Chester county, Penn. ), Jane (29th of the eleventh month, 
1758, Chester county, Penn. , married Thomas Wilson), Enoch (the 12th of the 
eighth month, 1762, Chester county, Penn., never married T), Mary (the 7th 
of the twelfth month, 1763, Chester county, Penn., married Levi Smith 
13th of the fifth month, 1813), David (the 18th of the eleventh month, 
1766, Chester county, Penn.), Ellis (the 21st of the seventh month, 1769, 
Chester county, Penn.), Martha (the 20th of the fourth month, 1772, Ches- 
ter county, Penn., died in infancy), Lydia (the 26th of the tenth month, 
1775, Virginia, married Enos Ross the 15th of the second month, 1783), 
Hannah (the 27th of the eleventh month, 1778, Virginia, married Samuel 
Bond, died April 4, 1819), Samuel (the 2d of the eleventh month, 1781, 
near Lawrenceburg, Ind. , died at Connersville, Ind. ). Jacob, son of David 
was born in Pennsylvania, but spent the latter part of his life in Berkeley 
county. He was married to Ruth Simmons, at Hopewell Meeting House 
by the Friend's ceremony. Their children were Jane, Jacob and Samuel. 
Jane (the eldest, married Nathan Walker, January 14, 1836, and died in 
Loudoun county, Va. , leaving two children, Jacob Walker and Mary Ruth, 
the latter of whom married William Williams, of Waterford, Loudoun 
Co., Va.), Jacob (the second child of Jacob, married Thomisin Lupton, of 
Frederick county, Va., May 11, 1836, and died near Polo, 111.). His chil- 
dren were Jonah, Martha (wife of a Mr. Messenger), Ruth (wife of Lloyd 
Dillon, of Sterling, 111.), Samuel and Jane. 

Samuel, third child of Jacob, and father of John N. Rees, was born in 
1818 and died in 1856. He married in 1840 Lydia A., daughter of John 
and Mary Purcell, of Frederick county. The mother of John N. died in 
1846. In 1848 his father married Margaret, daughter of Jacob -Ward, of 
Bunker Hill, Berkeley county. The children of this marriage were Lydia 
Ann, Jacob and David. His father owned a mill near Bunker Hill. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 781 

Ellis Rees, son of David, died near Bunker Hill, Berkeley Co., W. Va., 
nnmarried. David Rees, son of David, died near Lawrenceburg, Ind. ; his 
children were Amos, Jacob, John, Resin, Martha and David. David lives 
in Chattanooga, Tenn. , and is interested in the iron works and rolling mills 
there, and also owns a large tract of mineral land in East Tennessee. His 
children are Ellis, Susan, Pearl and Wiltshire. 

Mr. John N. Rees has farmed all his life with the exception of three 
years spent in West Virginia as a merchant, and now owns considerable 
property. Mr. Rees is a member of the Society of Friends and unmarried. 
His half-brother, Jacob Rees, now living with him married Ella, 
daughter of John and Emily Haley, of Loudoun county. They have two 
children: Margaret N. and S. Ellis. 

John H. C. Clayton, farmer, P. O. Cedar Grove, Frederick Co., Va., 
was born December 14, 1839, near Cedar Grove; was educated and spent 
his early life where he was born. He taught for fifteen years in the public 
schools, and since then has been engaged as a farmer. He married Mary 
R., daughter of Lewis and Rebecca George, of Frederick county. Her 
mother was a daughter of Benjamin Barrett and sister of Joel Barrett [see 
biography of Joel Barrett]. They are the parents of four children: Albert 
N. , Rebecca J., George E. and David L. Politically Mr. Clayton is a re- 
publican and a prohibitionist, and a member of the society of Good Temp- 
lars. During the war he was a Union man. His religious sympathies are 
with the Society of Friends. He has been very prosperous, and with his 
brother-in-law, G. W. Kurtz, owns a fine farm of 245 acres. His grand- 
father, Clayton, was born, lived and died in Marion county, W. Va. He 
married twice, the second wife being the grandmother of our subject. 
David L. Clayton, father of John H. C. Clayton, was born in 1801, in Marion 
county, W. Va. , where he lived until sixteen years of age, when he came to 
Frederick county, Va. , and died in 1854. He was, for a number of years, 
a teacher of vocal miisic, and compiled a book of music, though principally 
occupied at farming. He also served some time as magistrate in Stonewall 
district, Frederick county. He married Jane C. Peebles, of Bradford 
county, Penn. , and their children were : Elisha P. , who now resides in the 
state of Ohio; Elizabeth J., died in 1853; Virginia, died in 1866; John 
Henry Clay Clayton, our subject; Lucy, died in 1860; David L. ; Mary F., 
and Alice, who died in 1865. 

JosiAH Fries, farmer, P. O. Cedar Grove, Frederick Co., Va., was born 
April 25, 1821, on what is known as the McKown farm, two miles from 
White Hall, where his grandfather settled one hundred years ago, and has 
lived within a radius of two miles of the same place his whole life, and been 
occupied as a farmer and veterinary surgeon. He married Margaret Ellen, 
daughter of John and Elizabeth Boyd, of Frederick county, and their chil- 



782 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

drea are Martha A., George M., David A., Virginia A., John B., Lucy F., 
Mary E. , three of whom are living — David, Lucy F. (now Mrs. E. A. Mcln- 
tyre, of Platte county, Mo.) and Mary E. (now Mrs. G. L. Streit). Mr. 
Fries' grandfather, Martin Fries, a German, came to Frederick county, in 
1789, from York county, Penn. , and at his death, in 1829, owned three farms 
near White Hall. His children were Elizabeth, Mary, Michael, Catherine, 
David, Rebecca, Anna and Jacob, all of whom lived in Frederick county, in 
1780, on the old homestead, and always lived near said place. He died in 
1848. He married Mary Hallahan, of Frederick county, and their children 
were Jacob, Margaret, Catherine, Martin L., Elizabeth, David, Abraham, 
Isaac, Josiah, George Y. and Mary Ann, only three of whom are living — 
Elizabeth (now Mrs. George Foster, Grant county, Ind.), Josiah and George 
Y. Mr. Fries has been quite successful in life, although having some help 
to start with, and steadily has accumulated, and now owns three farms, 
488 acres of land, and has assisted his children largely in starting in life; 
has been a member of the United Brethren Church for fifty years; polit- 
ically, a democrat, and lives on what is known as Capt. Miller's farm, on 
Apple Pie Ridge. 

Josiah Robinson, farmer and miller, P. O. Cedar Grove, Frederick Co. , 
Va. , was born August 23, 1822, three miles west of White Hall. He lived 
with his parents until twenty-one years of age upon the home farm, and then 
came to Cedar Grove and rented the farm and mill which he now owns and 
on which property he resides. In 1851 he married Mary J., daughter of 
Asa Clevenger, and six children came to them, viz. : Edith, died at nine 
years of age; Willa, now Mrs. G. W. Tull, of Trenton, Mo.; Clarence A., 
living at Kirksville, Mo. ; Sallie G., now Mrs. James Robinson, of Frederick 
county; Andrew E., died in infancy; Lulu, died in 1889 at the age of twenty- 
two years. Mr. Robinson's grandfather came from Ireland, where they left 
their oldest daughter, and settled four miles west of White Hall, on the same 
farm now owned by his brother and sister, Andrew A. and Margaret, and 
upon which they now reside. Mr. Robinson's father, Andrew A. Robinson, 
a farmer, lived to the age of seventy- one years, and married Margaret, 
daughter of Josiah Jackson, of Frederick county, and their children were 
Archibald, Jackson, James, Mary Jane, Jonathan, David, Josiah, Joseph, 
Andrew A., Margaret and W^illiam T. Mr. Robinson has been successful 
in life, owning a mill property and considerable land, having started in life 
upon his own resources. Politically he is a republican. 

Joel Baerett, farmer, White Hall, Frederick Co., Va., was born Sep- 
tember 26, 1815, seven miles from Winchester, and one mile west of White 
Hall, on Apple Pie ridge, on the same farm which has been in the Barrett 
family since his great-grandfather, Arthur Barrett, settled on it. Mr. Bar- 
rett lived with his father until twenty-two years of age, when he married 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 783 

Sarah, daughter of Charles and Catherine Streit, of Frederick county. She 
died July 17, 1852, her children being Eleanor, William, John, Benjamin, 
Robert, Charles, Joel and Jonas. The first child, Eleanor, died in infancy. 
Mr. Barrett married again in 1854, Naomi, daughter of Elizabeth Taylor of 
Frederick county. The children of the second marriage are Thomas E. , 
Jonathan, Newton and Henry C. C. The family are members of the Society 
of Friends. During the Civil war they favored the Union cause, but did not 
serve on either side. Mr. Barrett owns a farm of 156 acres inherited from 
his father. His great-grandparents were born and married in England, 
and it is believed came to Pennsylvania with Wm. Penn, and later came to 
Frederick county, Va. From an old record in the possession of Jonathan, 
Mr. Barrett's brother, the children of the great-grandparents, Arthur and 
Lydia Barrett, were: John, born October 23, 1707; Arthur, Jr., born No- 
vember 7, 1709; Thomas, born April, 1711; William, born February 15, 
1713; Richard, born October 20, 1717s James, born January 10, 1721; 
Joseph, born May 10, 1723; Benjamin, born May 14, 1726, Jacob, born 
April 1, 1730. 

Mr. Barrett's grandfather, Benjamin Barrett, died in 1809. His wife's 
name was Eleanor. Their children were Thomas, Jonathan, John, David, 
Lydia, Eleanor, and Benjamin, who was Mr. Barrett's father. He was born 
November 21, 1775, and married Sarah, daughter of John Ward, of Fred- 
erick county, Va., who was born April 26, 1781 and died in 1834. Their 
children were John, Jonathan, William, Benjamin, Joel, Thomas, Rebecca, 
Eleanor, Mary and Sarah. Jonathan, William, Benjamin and Joel are liv- 
ing. His ancestors were members of the Society of Friends. Mr. Barrett 
is a republican. 

John Purcell, farmer, P. O. Winchester, was born in Loudoun county, 
Va., near Goose Creek Friends Meeting House in 1827. When seven years 
of age he came to Frederick county, Va., with his parents, who bought 
what is known as the Babb's Marsh farm of 300 acres. His parents lived 
on this farm the balance of their lives. In 1849 Mr. Piircell went to Cali- 
fornia with a party of gold prospectors and remained four and a half years 
at Hangtown (so named on account of three men being hanged there), but 
now known as Placerville. He was reasonably successful in his adven- 
ture, accumulating considerable money. He then returned to Frederick 
county and purchased a farm of 185 acres, known as Long Green, 
where he now resides and makes fruit-cnlture a speciality. His gran.d- 
father, thought to be of Irish descent, came from Pennsylvania to Virginia 
when young. His father was born near Hillsboro, Loudoun county, 
Va., and married Mary Jane, daughter of Joseph Janney, their children 
being Pleasant, Lott, Mary, Joseph, Mordecai, Thomas, Lydia Ann, and 
Miss Rosanna (who owns and lives comfortably on a farm adjoining our 



784 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

subject's), Priscilla, John, Rebecca and Eliasj of whom only John, Rosanna 
and Rebecca are living. Mr. Purcell married Adeline J., daughter of 
James and Ann Gather, of Flint Ridge, and their children are Howard 
J., James C, Anna L. , Mary I., Clark H. and J. Perry. The first two 
children named are dead. While not active members, their sympathies are 
with the Society of Friends. Politically Mr. Purcell is a repxiblican, and a 
member of Hiram Lodge No. 21, A. F. & A. M., located at Winchester. 

John L. Bond, farmer, P. O. Winchester, Va., was born January 4, 
1837, where he now lives, known as Lost Stream farm, so called from the 
fact that the streams from two springs near the house suddenly disappear, 
taking a subterranean course for half a mile or more. 

In 1862 he went to Indiana, in 1863 to Illinois, and was engaged in the 
nursery business. Afterward he herded cattle six months. In 1863 he re- 
turned to the farm, and engaged in farming and live-stock raising. In 
1873 he married Ann M. , daughter of Jonah H. and Lydia Lupton, of 
Frederick county, Va. , and on their bridal tour visited friends and relatives 
in West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, 
Iowa, Nebraska and Kentucky. 

Their children are Howell McPherson, Walker McClun, Allen Real, Ed- 
ward Lupton and two daughters (deceased) — Anna Sidwell and Mary Emma. 

J. L. Bond is a member of the Society of Friends, a republican and a 
Union man. His grandfather, John Bond, lived in Shenandoah county, Va., 
until his marriage ; then moved to Cacapon River, Hampshire Co. , (now) W. 
Va., and from there to Frederick county, occupying the farm Mr. Bond 
owns and lives on. 

He married Rachael, daughter of Samuel Lupton, Sr. , and their chil- 
dren were Abner, Hannah, Leah, Sarah and Margaret. After his first wife's 
death he married Lydia, daughter of Thomas McClun, of Frederick 
county, Va. 

There were no children by the second marriage. J. L. Bond's father, 
Abner Bond, was born October 10, 1801, in Shenandoah county, Va. , and 
came to Lost Stream farm when four years old, and lived on the same until 
his death, January 11, 1884. 

Edwin S. Baker, farmer, P. O. Winchester, was born in 1816 on the 
farm now owned by Mrs. M. C. Wright on the old Romuey road, four miles 
northwest of Winchester. He was educated at the Winchester Academy, 
and in 1845 married Martha A. , daughter of William Wood, of Oainsboro, 
and their children are Seline G. now Mrs. John Glaize, of Winches- 
ter; Julian W. married Kate, daughter of William P. Stump, of Hampshire 
county, Va. ; Thomas B. deceased, March, 1889. Mr. Baker has been occu- 
pied principally as a farmer, but served twenty-eight years as county sur 
veyor. In 1851 he was elected to the house of delegates by the democratic 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 785 

party, and served two years. He was appointed on behalf of Virginia, a 
member of the commission to determine the boundary line between a por- 
tion of Virginia and West Virginia. Mr. Baker was a Southern sympa- 
thizer during the war, and a democrat until the close of the war, when he be- 
came a republican. 

Mr. Baker's grandfather, Henry Baker, came from Germany, and mar- 
ried a Miss Fink, of Frederick City, Md. , also a German, and came to Win- 
chester. He served as commissary during the Revolutionary war, and was 
a butcher by trade. The children born to them were Henry, Joseph, Isaac, 
John, Abraham, Jacob and Elizabeth. Our subject is the only grandchild 
now living. Mr. Baker's father, Joseph Baker, was born June 14, 1762, at 
Winchester. Seven years of his life were spent as a frontier trader, after 
which he returned to Frederick county and married. His wife did not live 
long and he then married Sarah, daughter of Robert Lockhart, of Back 
Creek. His children to the second marriage were Robert L. (afterward 
colonel), Caroline, Rebecca, Edwin S. and Alicinda. The first two were 
born at Hogue Creek, whence he movec" to where our subject was born, and 
there remained the balance of his life. He died in 1833; was engaged 
mostly as a farmer, but was also a surveyor, and at his death owned consid- 
erable property. 

Andrew B. Hauck, farmer, Winchester, was born in 1820, near Myers- 
town, Lebanon Co. , Penn. When seven years of age he left thei'e with his 
parents, and went to East Hanover, in the same county. When eighteen 
years old he learned flour-milling at West Hanover, after which he went to 
Silver Spring, Cumberland Co., Penn., and worked at milling until twenty - 
nine years of age. He never attended school more than twenty- seven days. 
He was married to Eliza, daughter of Michael and Catherine Shriner, of 
Manheim township, Lancaster Co., Penn. Their children are Susan S., 
Adam S. , Roland S. and Andrew S. , all born in Pennsylvania. They dis- 
posed of their farm of fifty-two acres in Pennsylvania, and visited some of 
the western states with a view of buying, but not being satisfied with what 
they saw, decided to come to Frederick county, Va. , which they did in 1866, 
and settled on Apple Pie Ridge, buying 267 acres for very nearly what he 
received for the fifty-two acres in Pennsylvania. This he divided, making 
two farms, erecting all the buildings, except the old brick house in which 
his son Andrew now lives. He has since added thirty acres more to the 
old place. He and wife are Pennsylvania Germans, and when they first 
came to Virginia, were unable to speak English. Mr. Hauck became pros- 
perous by his own efforts and good management. His father, Jacob Hauck, 
was born in Ephrata, Lancaster Co., Penn., and his mother, Elizabeth 
(Ballinger) Hauck, in Middle Creek, the same county. His father died in 
1847, and his mother in 1824, near Myerstown, Lebanon Co., Penn. Of 

48 



786 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY, 

twelve children, Mr. Hauck is the only one living, being the youngest of 
the family, and now seventy years of age. His brothers and sisters were 
scattered widely in different parts of the country. The grandchildren of 
Mr. Hauck are Clayton S., Ellen H., Fannie H., Milton H. and Walter S. 
Hauck, and Annie E. Fahnestock. Mr. Hauck and wife are both well and 
hearty, and are still farming. Adam, the oldest son, lives in Pennsylvania, 
near Lancaster; Susan, the daughter, lives in Shenandoah county, near 
Woodstock. Mr. Hauck is a member of the Dunkard or German Baptist 
Church, and politically is a republican. 

W^iLLiAM R. Yeacklet, farmer, Winchester, was born in 1831, near 
Bethel Church, Frederick Co., Va., where he lived until 1855, when he 
married Rachel, daughter of Martin Fries, of Frederick county. Their chil- 
dren are Laura V., George H., Martin L., Molly C, John W. , Robert D. 
and Taylor B. In 1866 Mr. Yeackley bought and moved on to the farm 
where he now lives. He and his wife each received , a small heritage, but 
most of what he now possesses he has come by through his own labor and 
management. He has erected the buildings on his farm since the war. 
During the Civil war he served in the Confederate army; was wounded in 
the neck, but not disabled, and is a democrat. The family are members of 
the Lutheran Church, Mr. Yeackley' s grandfather, John Yeackley, was a 
farmer, born in Pennsylvania, and came to Frederick county, Va., about 
1785, He married Mary, daughter of Michael Fries, of Frederick county, 
and their children wer6 Betsy, Anna, Kate, Susan, Mary, George, Margaret, 
Henry and John, Mr. Yeackley' s father, George Yeackley, was born in 
1801, at the same place as his son. He married Mary, daughter of Abner 
Babb; their children were John A. (deceased), James H., William, Rees B. , 
Martin F., Elizabeth A,, Susan H. (deceased), George A. and Charles F. 
(deceased), 

Mks. Elizabeth Mulvehill, nee McCann, sister of James K. McCann 
[see biography of J, K. McCann], was born in 1836, near Strogstown, In- 
diana Co., Penn, In 1855 she married Michael E. Mulvehill, of Irish de- 
scent, who was born near Armagh, Indiana Co., Penn., in 1826. They then 
went to Washington, D. C, Mr. Mulvehill having taken charge of a section 
of the government water-works, and remained there two years. He then 
took a contract on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, in West Virginia, and 
moved to White Sulphur Springs, where they remained until 1862. He 
then served in the quartermaster's department of the Union army the bal- 
ance of the war, he being a strong Union man, after which he served as 
foreman of a bridge erected over the Ohio River, at Parkersburg, W. Va. 
In 1869 he owned several oil wells near Elizabeth, W. Va,, and after dis- 
posing of his wells, he went to Warrensburg, Mo., where he was proprietor 
of the Mings Hotel for five years. On the night of November 29, 1873, the 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 787 

hotel burned, and he lost his life while bravely trying to rescue his guests. 
He could have saved his own life easily, but went from the first floor to the 
fifth on his mission of humanity, to meet his death. Strange to tell, the 
only property saved was an oil painting of his wife's brother and a small wall 
clock. A very touching poem was written by Mary Myrtle, of Missouri, in 
praise of Mr. Mulvehill's heroism on this occasion, and it had many news- 
paper comments as well. His family remained there three years after this 
fire, when they came to Winchester, where they now live, since which time 
the property barned has been rebuilt. 

Mrs. Mulvehill's children are Harry A. (born at White Sulphur Springs, 
W. Va. , now engaged as a live-stock dealer) and Frank C. (born at Eliza- 
beth, W. Va., now one of the firm of Davison & Mulvehill, of Winchester, 
•dealers in dry goods). The family are all members of the Catholic Church. 

M. H. Albin, superintendent of the poor, P. O. Winchester, Va., was 
born in 1835 near Stephens City, Frederick Co., Va. , where he lived until 
twenty years of age. He then went to Martinsburg and taught school for 
three years, after which he clerked in a store in the town named. In 1858 
he married Nora E., daughter of John Keef, of Martinsburg. In 1861 he 
joined the Berkeley Border Guards, John Q. A. Nadenbousch. captain. 
Mr. Albin served during the war in the Confederate army, after which, from 
1865 to 1870, he was engaged on his father's farm near Stephens City, and 
from 1870 to 1876 he taught in the public schools of Stephens City; then 
was appointed superintendent of the poor in Frederick county and resides 
at the county parish farm. Mr. Albin is a member of the Lutheran Church, 
also a member of the Masonic fraternity and a democrat. Their children 
are Mamie E., Edgar \Y. and Harry D. Mr. Albin's father was Alex. W. 
Albin, and his mother Mary (Ewan) Albin, the latter born in England. Mr. 
Albin's grandfather, William Albin, came from Ireland, but there is little 
record of him. 

Martin F. Yeackley, farmer, Winchester, Va. , was born November 24, 
1835, near Bethel Church, Frederick Co., Va. [see biography of William 
R. Yeackley, his brother], where he lived until twenty-two years of age. He 
then went with his brother John to farm in Frederick county. In 1861 he 
entered the Confederate army and served in the war. In 1872 he married 
Mattie, daughter of the Rev. William Hodgson near Round Hill [see biog- 
raphy of William Hodgson]. Their children are William Holmes, George 
Frederick and Catherine Elizabeth. Mr. Yeackley received but little edu- 
cation, yet always managed to hold his own. He now owns a farm of 195 
acres, with a new dwelling house and other improvements, all of which have 
been acquired by his own labor and skillful management. The family are 
members of the Lutheran Church, and Mr. Yeackley is a democrat. 

F. H. WissLER, manufacturer, is a native of Upper Canada, where his 



788 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

earlr life was speut. and where he remained iintil he grew to manhood. He 
received his education iu the common schools of Canada, aud also attended 
the Clintoa Liberal Institute, at Clintou, N. Y. Iu the year 1S5T he came to 
Shenandoah conntv. Va., and engaged in the irou business at Columbia 
Furnace. He came to Winchester in 1SS3. Mr. Wissler is a republican, 
and is identified with the Episcopal Church 

Ctekm.\>" Smith, manufacturer, Winchester. The family of which Mr. 
Smith is a member is of English origin. John Smith, the father of our 
subject, was a native of New Jersey, and married Millieent Townsend, also 
a native of that state and a member of a numerous and prominent family. 
John was a well-to-do farmer, as was his father. Enoch Smith, who at an 
earlv dav. with three brothers, emigrated to America and settled ou Long 
Island, one of the brothers settling in New Jersey. John, his father, who 
was also of English extraction, died at the age of eighty-one years, and 
his wife at the age of eighty-seven yeai-s. Our subject, German Smith. 
was born in 1832, Cape May county, N. J. . where his early life was spent, 
and where, at a county academy he was educated. He remained at home 
until nineteen years of age. when he went to Philadelphia aud held a posi- 
tion as clerk for seven years. He then engaged with the tirm as superin- 
tendent of a glass works for two years, when he engaged in the commission 
business for himself in New York City. At the beginning of the Civil war 
he enlisted in the First New York Cavalry, but, because of an excess of 
cavalrv. Gen. Scott refused to accept them at that time. He then offered 
himself to the government of New Jersey in any capacity that he could serve. 
In 1861 he came to Harper' s Ferry as a trader, and at the close of the war 
he opened a general store in Winchester, the tii-st after the Civil war. He 
also engaged in the sumach and bark-grinding business, and by his business 
capacity and qualifications has been fairly successful. His manufacture of 
sumach and bark was the first in the Valley, and Mr. Smith went north for 
the disposal of his products and exported his bark, which is known iu com- 
merce as quercitron. On the 24th of May, 1864, Hannah, daughter of Eliza- 
beth Hummige. became his wife, and three children were born to them, 
one of whom is now living. Mr. Smith was the first trustee to establish 
public schools in Winchester, and in that work took a great interest. His 
wife is a member of the Episcopal Church. Mi-. Smith belongs to the re- 
publican party, and. while not an active politician, is well read upon polit- 
ical affairs. 

Robert Steele, retired fiorist. Winchester. This family is of Scotch 
lineage, and our subject was born in Perthshire. Scotland, in 1803. He is 
a son of Thomas Steele, who was also a gardener, and who died in 1852. 
Thomas was the father of twelve children, of whom Robert was the eldest. 
Robert spent his early life in Scotland, and was ten yeais in London. He 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 789 

was head gardener for Lord Sidaey, la 1835 he came to Winchester, and 
since that time has been enj^aged in gardening. He was never married. 
Mr. Steele has been successful in business, but suffered severe losses during 
the war. He was originally an old line whig, but now is a democrat. li. 
G. Smith, a nephew who now superint<;nds the work of Mr. Smith, is the 
son of John J. Smith, and was born in Dundee, Scotland. He came to 
America in 1853, and since that time has resided in Winchester. He en- 
listed in Company F, Twelfth Virginia Cavalry, and served during the war. 
In 1807 he was married to Anna Itoss, daughter of Joseph Brown. Their 
family consisted of nine children, three of whom are dead. Mr. Smith is 
a democrat. 

OscAK Baku, merchant, Winchester. Among the early families of Win- 
chester appears the name of Barr. Oscar Barr was born in Winchester, July 
1, 1835, and is one of the oldest of eleven children born to Hugh and Eliza- 
beth CAmoldj Barr. Hugh was a brickmaker and was also a native of the city 
named. Oscar's grandfather, Robert, was born in the Back Creek district, 
Frederick county, and his great-grandfather, John, came from Scotland. 
Elizabeth Arnold, Oscar's mother, was of English descent, and was a 
daughter of William Arnold, a miller by trade, who came with his father 
from England. Mr. Barr spent his early life in Winchester, but for eleven 
years lived in Hampshire county, W. Va. In 1808 he was married to Lucy 
J., daughter of Dempsey Kerrell, of Loudoun county, Va. Their family 
consisted of seven children, four of whom are now living. In 1801 he enlisted 
in Company A, Marion Rifles, and was in that branch of the service three 
years, when he was transferred to the Twenty-third Virginia Cavalry, and 
there remained until the day of the surrender. After the close of the war 
Mr. Barr engaged in the wholesale and retail grocery business, and has 
since remained in the same. While in West Virginia he filled the position 
of magistrate. Has been a member of the Lutheran Church f<.»r thirty 
years and is a deacon in the same, also a member of the t<jwn council and 
a democrat. 

Charles E. Hoovee, late superintendent of the Gas and Electric Light 
Company, Winchester, was born in that city in 1845, was educated in the 
schools of the town, learned the trade of his father, bricklaying, and at the 
age of sixteen started out in life, traveling extensively, working in the princi- 
pal cities as a journeyman bricklayer, and later as a contractor. He was 
married, in 1808, in Winchester, to Miss Alice V. Grim, who died four years 
later; was again married to Miss Clara Ramey, in Altoona, Penn.. and 
returned to Winchester, where he took charge of the gas and electric light 
plant. Mr. Hoover is prominent in Masonic circles; is a past commander 
of Knights Templar, and a member of various other society organizations; is 
an active fireman, and served in the city council of Winche.ster; also is a 



790 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

working member of the Methodist Church. Mr. Hoover's great-grandfather, 
John Henry Hoover, was born in 1732; his grandfather, John Hoover, was 
born in 1764, and his father, John Hoover, was born in 1801, all of whom 
died at an advanced age. The present John Hoover, now living, is a son of 
the subject of this sketch. On his mother's side Mr. Hoover is a descendant 
of the Harrys, his mother being Louisa Harry, the daughter of James 
Harry, a bricklayer and stonemason, quite a number of the most substantial 
and old buildings in Winchester and vicinity being the work of his father' s 
and grandfather's hands. 

Samuel L. Lerew (deceased) was born in Frederick county, Va. , in 1828. 
He was a tanner by trade, but engaged largely in farming, having owned 
two large farms. He was a very successful business man, and at one time 
held the position of treasurer of the city of Winchester. He was married 
to Sarah S. Stump, and his wife and son now survive him. He was a 
republican politically. 

Dr. J. B. WoRTHAM (deceased) was born in Alabama, and was the son 
of William H. Wortham, a native of Tennessee, and of English origin, and 
Lucy (King) Wortham, of Virginian ancestry. Dr. Wortham was reared in 
Alabama, and was educated at Cumberland University, Tennessee, from 
which institution he was graduated. In 1859 he began the study of medi- 
cine at JefPerson Medical College, Philadelphia, and graduated in 1861. 
At the outbreak of the war he enlisted as a private in the Fourth Alabama, 
but at the close of one year he was commissioned as surgeon and placed on 
the medical staff, where he remained for three years. At the close of the 
war he returnee! to his native state and practiced his profession for three 
years, and in 1868 came to Winchester and engaged in the drug business 
for three years. On account of ill health he gave up all medical practice 
and took up the study of art, in which he was quite proficient, being more 
than ordinarily able in oil, water-color and crayon. He was wedded to 
Roberta, daughter of Col. Robert L. Baker, of Winchester, and one child, 
a daughter, was the result of the union. This daughter, Miss Lillian, now 
seventeen years of age, like her father, has given evidence of a most 
remarkable talent for art, some of her work being simply marvels of perfec- 
tion in drawing and color. Dr. Wortham was a member of the Episcopal 
Church, and a democrat. He died in the summer of 1889. 

Henry Baet.jer, dry goods merchant, Winchester, was born in Germany 
and came to America in 1859. He settled in Baltimore, Md. , where, for a 
number of years, he was engaged in jobbing. In 1865 he came to Win- 
chester and commenced his present business where the post-ofifice now stands. 
The business was under the firm name of Henry Baetjer & Co., from 1865 
to 1884, when Mr. Baetjer assumed entire proprietorship. He is a Mason, 
a member of the Lutheran Church, and a democrat. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 791 

D. H. Anderson, manufacturer, Winchester, Va. , was born in this city in 
1845, and is the son of Morgan Anderson and grandson of Frank Anderson, 
the former a resident of this place, and a glove manufacturer, and the lat- 
ter a hatter by trade. The family is of Scotch genealogy. Morgan An- 
derson was married to Susan, daughter of Joseph Cooley, and their family 
consisted of three children — two daughters and one son. D. H. Anderson 
spent his early years in Frederick county, and in 1862 enlisted in Company 
F, Eighteenth Virginia Regiment, and was in the service until the close of 
the war. On September 19, 1864, he was taken prisoner and confined at 
Point Lookout. He was wedded to Emma, daughter of Samuel and Lydia 
Wilt, December 17, 1874, and they are the parents of three children — two 
living. Mr. Anderson has met with commensurate success through his own 
industry. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a 
democrat. 

Frederick W. Kohlhousen, retired, Winchester. This family, as the 
name indicates, is of German descent, and our subject was born in the 
fatherland, January 25, 1806. His father, Frederick, was married to Wil- 
helmina Letzerick, and their family consisted of four daughters and one son. 
Our subject emigrated to America in 1836, and first located in Strasburg. 
He was married in 1879 to Sallie, daughter of David Shaull, and two chil- 
dren were born to them. He learned the upholstering and saddlery trade, 
and came to Winchester in 1844, engaging in business here. Mr. Kohl- 
housen, by strict attention to business, hard work and industry, has met with 
success. He is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

H. Clay Krebs, merchant, Winchester. Isaac Krebs, the father of the 
gentleman whose name heads this sketch, was a native of Littlestown, Adams 
Co., Penn., a shoemaker by trade, and quite successful in business. He 
died in June, 1884. H. C. Krebs received his education in the common 
schools, and was reared in Winchester. In 1865 he was married to Miss 
Beard, daughter of Wm. Beard, of Augusta county, Va. , and to them have been 
born five children. Mr. Krebs has been engaged in the mercantile business 
in Winchester for twenty-five years, and has served as a member of the town 
council. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

James C. Pugh, carpenter and farmer, Hayfield, is a son of Lemuel and 
Mary (Nixon) Pugh, and was born in 1864, in Hampshire county, Va., and 
was educated in the ordinary schools of his section. He was married, Jan- 
uary 6, 1886, to Ida E., youngest daughter of Mahlon S. Lovett, an old 
resident of Frederick county, of the Hayfield region, and where the daugh- 
ter still occupies the old homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Pugh have a family of 
two children: Harry Whisner, aged two years, and Lloyd Randolph, aged 
nine months. Subject and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South, of Gainsboro, and he is a democrat. 



792 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Joseph Robinson, farmer, Gainsboro, was born in 1825, and is the 
son of Andrew A. Robinson, who was born in 1781, half a mile from the 
present residence of our subject, and three miles from Gainsboro. He 
was a farmer all his life in the same neighborhood, and died May 7, 1855. 
He married Margaret Jackson, daughter of Josiah and Ruth (Steer) Jack- 
son, formerly of Chester county, Penn. , and they had the following children: 
Archibald (deceased), Jackson (died in 1887), James (died in 1877), J^on- 
athan (died in 1871), Mary Jane (died in 1876), David (died in 1889), 
Josiah, Joseph, Margaret A. , Andrew A. and William. Mr. Robinson is a 
grandson of James Robinson, who was born in Ireland, and married Mary, 
also born in Ireland, daughter of George Brown, who followed the trade of 
a weaver. The subject of this sketch married Sarah M., daughter of John 
Fenton, of Frederick county, Va. , and they had four children: John F., 
William T. , Anna and Sarah M. Mr. Robinson, with his brother, Andrew 
A., a widower, and sister, Margaret A., are living together on a farm, con- 
sisting originally of 400 acres, each having an interest in the same by in- 
heritance. In 1881 their dwelling was destroyed by fire, but since has been 
rebuilt on the same site, a good, comfortable dwelling. Mr. Robinson is a 
republican and sympathizes with the Society of Friends. 

Isaac N. Pangle, farmer, Marlboro, Frederick Co. , Va. , was born April 5, 
1824, at BufPalo Marsh, Frederick Co. , Va. , son of Jacob Pangle, who was born 
in 1788 near the same place, and died in 1870; farmer during his life. He 
married Ann, who was born in 1797 and died in 1875, daughter of Isaac 
and Elizabeth Pugh. Their children were Ann E., Asberinah, James, 
Robert, Isaac Newton, subject, Maria, Marshal E., Milton, Watson and 
Richard S. Mr. Pangle' s father owned a farm of 100 acres at Buffalo 
Marsh. He is a grandson of Henry Pangle, who was born in Pennsylvania 
and came to Frederick county, Va. , when about middle age, and bought the 
farm referred to above at Buffalo Marsh. Mr. Pangle received a very 
limited education, but is fond of literature, being well posted in general 
matters. In 1847 he married Mary, J. Muckey, his cousin. The children 
to this marriage were: Susan H. (born February 15, 1848), Mary A. (born 
November 29, 1849), Robert H. (born December 15, 1853), Hugh L. (born 
November 25, 1855), William R. (born November 18, 1857), James Max- 
well (born August 18, 1860) and Randolph J. (born December 9, 1862). In 
1866 Mr. Pangle bought a farm of 106 acres two miles fi-om Marlboro post- 
ofi&ce, and has lived there ever since, with the exception of four years in 
Clarke county. He started in life poor, and what he has accumulated has 
been largely through his own industry and toil. He is a member of the 
Presbyterian Church and of the Farmer's Alliance; also an enthusiastic 
democrat. 

Adams & McCarty, merchants, Stephens City. This firm has been an 
organization since 1880, and is the largest dry goods and general merchan- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGEAPHY. 793 

dising establishment of the town. The individual names of the firm are L. 
A. Adams and J. W. McCarty, the former a native of Rockbridge county, 
Va., and the latter a native of Frederick county, same state. Being bright, 
enterprising young men, they have built up a trade in the town and sur- 
rounding country larger than any firm outside of Winchester. Their store- 
room on Main street is a two-story brick structure, 35x40 feet. The latest 
styles of goods, and fresh groceries are kept constantly on hand. The firm 
also do quite an extensive jobbing trade with the more moderate sized stores 
throughout the surrounding country. 

Clark Maxwell, farmer, P. O. Winchester, is a native of Scotland, and 
came to Winchester in February, 1887, and purchased the Glenn Lee prop- 
erty, originally owned by Judge Clark, consisting of fifty-seven and one- 
half acres; also twenty acres of arable land one and oue-half miles from 
Winchester, on the Front Royal turnpike, and a farm containing 140 acres 
on the Winchester & Martinsburg turnpike, four miles from Winchester. 
When in England last year he purchased the thoroughbred stallion Galore 
(by Galopin, out of Lady Maura), and imported him to this country, and 
sold him to Mr. William Astor, New York, for the sum of 115,000, to go to 
the stud. He also imported a herd of Galloway cattle, which were much 
admired at the local fairs in Virginia. Mr. Maxwell justly prides himself 
on his fine horses and cattle, and is doing much toward the improvement 
of the stock in Frederick county. 

Lycurgus E. Savage, distiller, Kernstown, was born in Alexandria, Va. , 
in 1827. His father, H. B. Savage, was a native of Northampton county, 
Va. , and tanning was his occupation. He came to Frederick county, Va. , 
in 1834; was engaged in farming and tanning at Kernstown, and in 1862 
he died. Lycurgus E. , our subject, was the only child, and his earlier life 
was spent in Shenandoah county, in Baltimore, and in New York City, 
engaged in the mercantile business. He was imprisoned during the Civil 
war in Libby prison, and was one of the exchanges made by President 
Lincoln not long before his death. Since 1870 Mr. Savage has been engaged 
in the distillery business, and is owner of the Kernstown Distillery. 

B. James Fergdsson, farmer, Kernstown, Va. , was born in Scotland and 
came to Frederick county in 1884, and purchased 217 acres of land near 
Kernstown, originally the property of J. H. Stadon. 

A. S. Pratt is the proprietor of Rock Enon Springs and Mineral Baths, 
situated on the great North Mountain, Frederick Co., Va. , about sixteen 
miles northwest of Winchester. It is one of the finest and most attractive 
mineral properties in the State. It was purchased by a company of Wash- 
ington gentlemen in 1869, on account of its remarkable beauty and the great 
value of its abundant mineral waters. Mr. A. S. Pratt, who was one of the 
original purchasers within a few years succeeded in buying in the entire 



794 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

stock, and under his personal management the place has become famous as 
a summer resort. For many years it was known as the Capper Springs, but 
the name was changed by the company purchasing the property to Rock 
Enon Springs, as a more appropriate designation of this lovely resort. 

Douglas Lockwood, farmer, P. O. Stephens City, is a native of Dutchess 
county, N. Y., and was born April 11, 1837. He is a son of John and 
Martha (Smith) Lockwood, of Fairfield county, Conn. His grandmother lived 
to be one hundred and three years old, and Gresham Smith, his uncle, now one 
hundred years old, attends to a lighthouse on Cochrane' s island. Long Island 
sound, and has kept it for a number of years. To John Lockwood and wife 
were born ten children, nine of whom are now living. He was a school teacher, 
and a farmer, a prominent citizen and a successful business man. He died at 
the age of sixty-six years. Douglas Lockwood received his education in west- 
ern New York and for thirty years engaged in farming and grape-culture, 
and dealt in live-stock. He came to this place March 11, 1884, and pur- 
chased 277 acres of land, for which he paid $18,750. He married, Decem- 
ber 12, 1860, Edna, daughter of David Baily, of Steuben county, N. Y., 
and the result of the union was four children: Myra, Lloyd, Adsit and Delia. 
He belongs to the Knights of Honor and the Farmers' Alliance, and is a 
township clerk of Frederick county; also a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church and is a republican. 

M. J. Stayman, farmer and merchant, Kernstown, was born in the Cumber- 
land Valley, Penn. , in 1835, and is the son of Christian Stayman of that sec 
tion, where he remained until he was forty-seven years of age. In 1882 he 
came to Frederick county and purchased 140 acres of land originally the Chas. 
B. Hancock property; also engaged in the mercantile business. Mr. Stayman 
was united in marriage to Mary Bailey, of York county, Penn. , and their 
family consists of five children, none of whom, however, were born here. 
Mr. Stayman has served as postmaster from the time he came to Frederick 
county. He adheres to the Presbyterian faith, and is a republican in pol- 
itics. 

Matthias Miller, farmer, Opequon, Frederick county, is the son of Abra- 
ham and Rebecca (Schultz) Miller, and was born in 1824, .being the second 
of ten children. Abraham Miller, the father, was a physician and mer- 
chant, and was born and educated in Winchester, Va. Matthias Miller was 
born in Winchester, Va. , and married Mary, daughter of George Swartz. 
Mr. Miller owns 215 acres of land, belonging to the homestead, and now 
resides there. He has always been a farmer. His wife is a member of the 
Methodist Church. 

H. Deahl, contractor, Winchester, was born in the city named in 1847. 
His father, David Deahl, was also a contractor, and a native of Berkeley 
county, Va. , who came to Winchester about 1830, and followed his profes- 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 795 

sion until his death. Henry Deahl learned his trade at an early age, and 
has since been enojaged in it; was the contractor for many buildings in 
Winchester and the surrounding country. 

John H. Buncutter (deceased) was born in 1812, son of Christopher and 
Betsey (Loy) Buncutter. In 1851 he married Mary Jane, daughter of Levi 
Brown. At his death Mr. Buncutter left 130 acres of land, having been 
quite successful. He died in 1881, and his widow still survives him. He 
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics was a 
republican. During the war his sympathies were with the Union. 

John Wilson, farmer, P. O. Rain, was born in Frederick county, Va. , 
in 1822. At an early age he and a brother were left orphans and thrown 
upon their own resources, and it has been through perseverance, industry, 
and his own labor, that Mr. Wilson has accumulated what he now possesses. 
He wedded Elizabeth Connolly, of Irish parentage, and a highly- educated 
lady. Their family consisted of eight children: Martin, Mary, Anna, Cath- 
erine, John, James, Clarence and Albert, of whom six are now living, five 
being in the West. His wife died in 1867, at the age of forty-three years. 
Mr. Wilson now owns 400 acres of land. For twenty-two years he has kept 
a public house. 

J. S. Haldeman & Brother, creamery business, P. O. Winchester, are 
natives of Juniata county, Penn. In 1879 Isaac Haldeman, father of the 
above, came to this place with his wife and four children. He was a mer- 
chant and farmer, and first settled near Stephenson's Depot and purchased 
108 acres of land, and, after remaining there five years, came to this place 
and purchased 300 acres of land. Messrs. Haldeman & Brother are now 
engaged in the creamery business, J. S. being on the farm and C. R. in the 
creamery. Politically they are republicans. 

Henry Stephenson, farmer, P. O. Stephenson, was born at Kenilworth, 
Frederick Co. , Va. , September 16, 1835. Married Helen Murray Marbury, 
of Georgetown, D. C, September 12, 1878, and has three children: John 
Taylor, Murray Marbury and Henry Neville Stephenson. Mr. Stephenson's 
father was William Stephenson, of Burnside, County Donegal, Ireland, and 
came to America in 1794, aged eleven years, with his father, James W. Ste- 
phenson, who settled in Charlestown, Jefferson Co., Va. 

R. R. Brown, tanner, Winchester. The original member of this family 
was Richard R. Brown, who was born in 1805, and died in 1884. Eliza- 
beth T. Murphy, of Maryland, became his wife, and by her were born nine 
children, six of whom are living, viz. : Elizabeth, Richard, Alice, John, 
Charles and Rebecca. He commenced life poor in the tanning business, 
and he was successful. He was a member of the society of Friends. 
Richard R. Brown, the subject of this sketch, being the eldest son, was born 
in 1856; was educated at the Winchester Seminary, J. W. Marvin, prin- 



796 HISTOKY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

cipal, and at an early age learned the tanning trade with his father. He 
was married to Mary, daughter of Samuel P. Brown, of Loudoun county, 
Va., and their family consists of four children. He is a member of the 
Society of Friends, is a Good Templar, and has been a member of the town 
council. Politically he is a republican. 

C. J. Jacobs, coal dealer, Winchester, is a native of Chester couoty, 
Penn., and was born in 1849. His father, John Jacobs, was a farmer, and 
came to Virginia in 1866, locating at Harper's Ferry. He then removed to 
Winchester and purchased a farm of 202 acres, and there remained until 
his death. He was joined in marriage to Eliza Williamson, and to them 
were born four children. Mr. C. J. Jacobs, the subject of this sketch, 
spent bis early days in his native county in Pennsylvania, and was wedded 
to Eliza C. Barrett, of Winchester, daughter of David Barrett, and three 
children were born to them, two of whom are living. Mrs. Jacobs died 
July 24, 1885. Mr. Jacobs has been engaged in the coal business for ten 
years. Is a member of the Mystic Circle, and in politics is a republican. 

Charles W. Andebson, bricklayer, Winchester, and George M. Ander- 
son (deceased). Charles W. Anderson was born in Winchester, Va., De- 
cember 16, 1827. His parents were Henry and Susan (Grim) Anderson, to 
whom were born six children, four of whom are living. Henry Anderson 
was the son of Jacob Anderson, a blacksmith and wagoner by trade, and a 
reasonably successful man. Charles W. spent his early life in Winchester, 
and began his trade when sixteen years of age, and has followed the same 
ever since. He was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Obediah and Kate 
(Edmunds) Feaster, of New Jersey. Obediah was of English descent, and 
a sea captain, afterward a farmer. The result of the union was five chil- 
dren, four living: Frederick F., Charles E., Edward S. and Harry W. It 
has been by his own labor and industry that Mr. Anderson now possesses 
what he does. He is a member of the Methodist Church, and has been one 
of the city council of AVinchester for fifteen years. He is a republican in 
politics. 

George M. Anderson (deceased) was a son of Henry Anderson, of this 
district. He was a plasterer during all his life, and while he began poor, 
to himself can be attributed his success. He was married in 1855, to Mary, 
daughter of Joseph Boustack, of Carlisle, Penn. , and their family consisted 
of six children, four of whom are living: Ida Virginia (Mrs. Diffenderfex-), 
John J., Emma (Mrs. Grim) and Robert A., with his mother. Mr. Ander- 
son was a member of the city council of Winchester, and a magistrate; also 
a member of the Lutheran Church. Politically he was with the democrats. 
He died November, 29, 1888, at the age of fifty-nine years. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 797 



SKETCHES RECEIVED AFTER PRECEDING MATTER WAS IN PRINT. 

Col. Charles Mynn Thruston, of "Mount Sion," near White Post, 
Frederick (now Clarke) county, Va. Few men of his time were more dis- 
tinguished than the man whose name heads this sketch. And nothing shows 
more clearly the enterprising spirit of Virginians, and more thoroughly ex- 
plains how the old families of the State became scattered and interwoven 
with those of the south and west, than the history of Charles Mynn Thruston 
and his descendants. Howe's History of Virginia says: "Charles Mynn 
Thruston, who was born in Gloucester county, Va., in 1738, was a descend- 
ant of the old English cavaliers, and his ancestors were among the lirst 
settlers of Gloucester. Mr. Thruston was educated at William and Mary 
College. AV^hen twenty years of age, he acted as lieutenant of provincials, 
tinder the command of Washington in the campaign which resulted in the 
evacuation of Fort Duquesne. He afterward studied for the ministry, was 
ordained by the bishop of London, and chosen rector of a parish in his 
native county. In 1769 he removed to Frederick county, Va., where he 
continued in his calling until the commencement of hostilities with the 
mother country. He had been among the most prominent in repelling the 
attempt to introduce the Stamp Act into Virginia, and he now embarked in 
the common cause with unconquerable zeal. He exerted himself to pro- 
cure arms and ammunition, and addressed the people at public gatherings 
by the most spirit-stirring and eloquent harangues. Not content with this, 
Parson Thruston threw aside the gown, and, seizing the sword, raised a volun- 
teer company composed of the elite of the young men of the county, he 
being chosen captain, and they marched to join Washington in New Jersey. 
He had his arm shattered in making a bold and vigorous attack on a strong 
Hessian redoubt near Amboy, and upon being carried from the field was 
attended by the surgeon of Gen, Washington. He was afterward pro- 
moted to the rank of colonel. He never resumed his pastoral functions. 
He held various public offices, among which were those of presiding judge 
of the court of Frederick county and member of the legislature. ' ' 

In 1809, consulting the interests of a numerous family, which, besides his 
own childi-en, embraced a number of grandchildren, he removed to Louisiana 
and purchased the plantation upon which was afterward fought the battle of 
New Orleans. The descendants of the invaders whom he had encountered in 
1776, in 1815 perished over his grave. He died in 1812, and was buried at 
the spot where the battle, which afterward occurred, raged fiercest. ^ 

A number of interesting anecdotes might be told of Col. Thruston, but 
one, which has already been published, will suffice to illustrate his character. 



798 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

A party of four soldiers was reported to be at his mill, in the act of remov- 
ing his flour, which they claimed they had been ordered to do, by Col. Nelson. 
He immediately armed himself and ejected them from the premises. The 
next day a Lieut. Graves with fifteen troopers appeared at the mill and threat- 
ened, without proper authority, to remove the flour. Col. Thruston, who in 
the meantime had learned of their approach, stationed himself at the door 
of the mill with loaded musket, determined to sacrifice his life rather than 
submit to an oppression which he considered to be as iniquitous as the 
Stamp Act, which he had so vigorously opposed. The lieutenant, after 
placing his men in various threatening attitudes without avail, and observ- 
ing that force on his part meant bloodshed, took the advice of bystanders, 
who warned him that Col. Thruston meant what he said and would certainly 
shoot, if he, the lieutenant, persisted; so he relinquished his purpose. Af- 
terward, Col. Thruston, leax'ning that his regiment was in need of food, gave 
the lieutenant all he wanted, and invited him to dine with him. Several of 
the neighbors offered to assist Col. Thruston in defending his mill, but he 
declined, saying that no one but himself should die in defense of his prop- 
erty. Gen. Charles Lee, lame from a wound, was staying at Col. Thruston' s 
at the time, and learning of the trouble, hobbled down to the mill, and re- 
inforced the colonel with language clothed in very vigorous English, for 
which the lieutenant threatened to throw him into the mill-dam. He changed 
his mind, however, upon learning whom he was addressing. Col. Thruston 
inherited, and left to his family, a book of date 1604, which contained the 
genealogy of the Thruston family from that date to the present time. It 
records the name of one of the family who was chamberlain and treasurer 
of the city of Bristol, England, at the time Charles II. made his entrance 
into it after the restoration. Col. Thruston' s father was born in Gloucester 
county, Va., and married a Miss Mynn, daughter of a prominent Episcopal 
clergyman of that county. The descendants of their several sons represent* 
to a large extent, the numerous families of Thrustons residing in Glouces- 
ter and adjoining counties, and elsewhere south and west. And the mar- 
riage of their daughters to a Taylor, a Thoi'nton and a Hubard, defines 
the Thruston connection with the numerous prominent families of those 
names to be found in Virginia and Kentucky. 

Charles Mynn Thruston, the subject of this sketch, married twice. His 
first wife was Mary Buckner, of Gloucester county, and his second wife 
was Sarah Alexander. Twelve children were the fruit of these marriages: 
John, the eldest, settled at an early age at Louisville, Ky. , where he became 
one of the most prominent citizens of that state. His name is mentioned 
with that of Harrison, a kinsman of President Harrison, as principals in the 
first duel that was fought in Kentucky after it became a state. The names 
of Breckinridge and Sullivan appear as seconds. His children were : Charles^ 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGKAPHY. 799 

a distinguished lawyer of Louisville, Ky. ; Alfred, cashier of one of the 
banks of that city ; Algernon, who was attorney-general of Texas, and Bet- 
tie, who married Woodson Pope, clerk of JefPerson county, Ky. Their son 
represented the Louisville district in congress. 

Buckner, the second son of Col. Thruston, stood by his side (a youth of 
thirteen) when his arm was shattered in battle. After receiving his educa- 
tion at William and Mary College and in Europe, he settled in Kentucky, 
in the year 1787. He became distinguished at the bar and on the bench, 
and in 1804 was elected United States senator from that state. He served 
in this capacity for several years, when he was prevailed upon by President 
Madison to accept a vacancy which occurred upon the bench of the supreme 
court of the District of Columbia, which position he held until his death in 
1845. He had a highly cultivated mind, and Gen. Charles Lee, of the 
Revolution, who was intimate with the family, remarkable for his great in- 
tellectual culture as well as for his blunt eccentricities, left him his valuable 
library, remarking in his famous will, that he bequeathed it to the only man 
he had met in America who was capable of appreciating it. 

The Thruston family, of Cumberland, Md. , are the children of his eldest 
son, Charles, who was for twenty years a prominent oiScer in the United 
States army. He had other sons who became prominent and useful citizens, 
and two daughters who married prominent men. 

Charles, the third son of Col. Thruston, lived also in Kentucky, where 
he became prominent and wealthy. He married the daughter of John 
Clark, of Jefferson county, who was a sister of the distinguished Gen, 
George Roger Clark, and of Gov. William Clark, of Missouri. He left one 
son residing in Louisville in affluent circumstances. The next son, Alfred, 
after receiving a thorough medical education in this country and in Europe, 
became a surgeon in the United States army. He was married, but left no 
children. 

The next son, Frederick, died at an early age unmarried. Edmond, the 
next son, entered the navy. He married a lady in Mississippi and died 
young, leaving one daughter, who is married and living in that State. 

The eldest daughter of Col. Thruston was Sarah, who married George 
Flowarden Norton, a prominent citizen of Winchester, Va. Their children 
were John, who was United States marshal for Mississippi, and died unmar- 
ried in Hinds county. Miss. , possessed of considerable wealth. Charles, 
another son, was a naval officer. He married and left children who occupy 
prominent positions in the country. The third child was a daughter, 
Courtney, who died unmarried. 

The next daughter of Col. Thruston, Betsy, married William Dainger- 
field, of Virginia. He was secretary of the territory of Mississippi. But 
one child, a daughter, survived them. She married Gen. Felix Huston (not 



800 HISTOEY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Sam), a distinguished officer in the Texan army, and lived at Natchez, Miss. 
The third daughter, Sidney, married Alfred Powell, a distinguished lawyer 
of Winchester, Va., who represented that district in congress. Admiral 
Levin Powell was the only child of this marriage. The next daughter, 
Louisa, married Edmond Taylor, a prominent and wealthy citizen of the 
vicinity of Louisville, Ky. They had a number of children who married 
and represent large and prosperous families of that state. The next 
daughter, Fanny, married Frederick Conrad, of Winchester, Va. , uncle of 
Hon. Eobert Y. Conrad, of that city. They removed with Col. Thruston 
to Louisiana, where they raised a large family, all of whom were well to do. 
Their four daughters were Mrs. Weeks, Mrs. Palpey, Mrs. Towles and 
Mrs. Harding. They married wealthy planters and influential citizens. 
Their three sons, Frederick, Charles and Frank became eminent lawyers, 
and Alfred a prosperous merchant. Charles was a member of both houses 
of congress, and was also secretary of war in Mr. Fillmore's cabinet. He 
was also a member of the Confederate congress. He married the daiighter 
of Lawrence Lewis and grandniece of Gen. Washington, and his remains 
rest with those of his wife at Mount Vernon. 

Mary Buckner, the next and youngest daughter of Col. Thruston, mar- 
ried Col. Charles Magill, a prominent officer of the Revolution, and a lead- 
ing lawyer of the Winchester bar. Seven sons and four daughters were the 
fruit of this marriage. Charles and Archibald pursued the occupation of 
farming in Frederick, their native county. John, after practicing law for 
a few years purchased "The Meadows," the homestead of the family, and 
farmed it to within a few years of his death, which occurred at the age of 
seventy-three. Alfred and Henry both became prominent physicians. The 
former occupied a professorship in the medical department of the University 
of Virginia. Augustine became an eminent lawyer in Louisiana. Buckner 
was a surgeon in the United States navy. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, 
married Col. Augustine C. Smith, an officer in the United States army, and 
afterward a prominent lawyer and public man at Winchester, Va. The 
next daughter, Anne, married Gen. Thomas Turner Fauntleroy, a distin- 
guished officer of the United States army, and also a general in the Confed- 
erate service. Mary, the next daughter, married Robert Lee Randolph, of 
Eastern View, Fauquier county, Va., a prominent and highly esteemed citizen 
of that county. Frances, the youngest daughter, married, first Mr. Thomas 
Gordon, a prominent citizen of Tallahassee, Fla,, and afterward Mr. Alfred 
Thruston, a prominent citizen of Washington, D. C. 

The last survivor of this large family, Mrs. Randolph, died only a few 
months since. The descendants, however, are numerous, and some of them 
have risen to eminence in their professions and occupations. 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY, 801 

Col. Charles Magill, of " The Meadows," Frederick county, Va. — The 
Magill ancestry is of Scotch-Irish origin. They were earnest supporters of 
the Crown. One of the most prominent names in the family is Robert Ma- 
gill of the Isle of Mull on the coast of Scotland, who in 1650 was made vis- 
count Oxingford, by Charles II. , in recognition of brave and heroic service 
rendered to him while besieged by the army of the Covenanters whereby 
he made his escape and returned to England. Robert was invested with an 
estate, Tullycairn, in County Antrim in the North of Ireland, which became 
the seat of the family. Three brothers, John, Charles and Arthur, great- 
grandchildren of the aforementioned Robert, emigrated to America in the 
year 1766. John settled at Winchester, Va., where he practiced law suc- 
cessfully for a number of years. He was the father of the subject of 
this sketch. His brothers, Charles and Arthur, settled in Middletown, 
Conn. The Magills of that section and of Georgia and Alabama are de- 
scendants of Charles and Arthur. The late S. W. Magill, D. D. , a prom- 
inent Presbyterian clergyman of Amherst, Mass. , was a great-grandson of 
Charles. 

John had two children Charles and Archibald, both of whom were 
educated for the bar. Charles is the subject of this brief memoir. 
When the Revolutionary War began, Charles, not yet of age, engaged 
earnestly and actively with the patroits in the stniggle for independence, 
for this, he was disinherited by his father, who was an avowed royalist, and 
who left his large estate to his other son Archibald, cutting Charles off with 
a shilling. Charles entered the service as a private, and served throughout 
the war, attaining the rank of colonel. The greater part of his service was 
rendered under the immediate command of Gen. Washington, and a por 
tion of the time as a member of his staff. When Gen. Green was placed 
in command of the southern department. Col. Magill became a member of Lis 
staff. Letters of his, in the line of such duty, are to be found among th^^ 
"Washington Papers," in the state department at Washington, as a part 
of the military and official correspondence of Gen. Green. Gov. Thomas 
Jefferson makes honorable mention of him in his official correspondence 
with Gen. Washington, in connection with the battle of Guilford Court House. 
He was wounded during the war. The interesting private correspondence 
of Col. Magill contains startling corroboration of the severe hardships which 
the soldiers encountered, the terrible sufferings of the army at Valley Forge, 
in which he was a participant, being especially dwelt upon. His admiration 
of the self-denying patriotism and heroic qualities of the commander-in- 
chief under the difficulties which encompassed him upon all sides, is a 
marked feature in his comments on the conduct of the war. 

At the conclusion of the war Col. Magill entered actively upon the prac- 
tice of his profession at Winchester, Va. , and soon became the leading 

49 



i 



802 HISTORY OF THE LOWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

lawyer of that section, embracing the counties of Frederick, Berkeley, Au- 
gusta and Hampshire. He was public-spirited and his energies and means 
were earnestly and liberally expended in promoting the commercial and in- 
dustrial interests of his people. He was instrumental with other prominent 
citizens in organizing the Bank of the Valley at Winchester and he became 
its first president, retaining that position up to the time of his death in 
1828. He was a Federalist in politics, thus sympathizing with the political 
views of Washington, Marshall and Adams, rather than with the JefPerson 
school of public policy. He was elected for several terms to represent the 
Winchester district in the senate of Virginia and was a distinguished mem- 
ber of that body when the celebrated Alien and Sedition resolutions were 
introduced. He took a prominent part in their discussion, and his speeches 
published at the time, and which are now extant, were among the most im- 
portant delivered upon that occasion. He was nominated by President John 
Adams and confirmed by the senate one of the three Federal judges for 
Virginia, George Keith Taylor and James Marshall, the brother of the chief 
justice, being the other two. 

Col. Magill was tall in stature and of dignified bearing with a gentle, 
genial manner which represented the generous and sympathetic qualities 
that commanded the respect and esteem of all classes and parties. He was 
large-hearted and always ready to help his fellow-man. Socially, he was 
hospitable to an extreme. At both his Winchester home, and "The 
Meadows," his country seat, the most generous hospitality was dispensed. 
His country seat was situated five miles south of Winchester, and em- 
braced about 2,500 acres of rich and valuable land. The house, which 
is still standing, is a large square brick mansion with the spacious halls 
and rooms of its day. It is located on a commanding eminence which over- 
looks besides a far-reaching landscape, an extensive area of rich grass and 
meadow land, from which it derived its name, and which, with its luxuriant 
sward, timothy ricks and happy herds and flocks, might well suggest the 
appellation. In its palmiest days its extensive grounds and lawns were 
adorned with trees, shrubs and flowers in rich profusion. Barns and stables 
of native stone; comfortable cabins at every turn; a big spring with well- 
appointed dairy; orchards, gardens, the negro "patches;" and, added to 
these, the well-clad, well-fed merry toilers; made up, in main, the equipment 
of this, once the rural home of a liberal planter, a humane master and a 
hospitable gentleman of the olden time whose remains were deposited sixty- 
two years ago in the old Presbyterian Church-yard at ^Vinchester in the 
presence of a large concourse of mourning relatives and friends. " The 
Meadows ' ' remained in the hands of a member of the family until the end 
of the war, during which it suffered an amount of destruction and dilapi- 
dation which left scarcely a vestige of its former self For twenty years 



GENEALOGY AND BIOGRAPHY. 803 

past strangers have owned the property which, to the descendants of Charles 
Magill, is merely the wreck of a past which must live only in cherished 
memory. 

Col. Magill was married twice. His first wife was a Miss Daingerfield, 
who lived but a few months after their marriage and died without issue. 
His second wife was Mary Buckner Thruston, daughter of Col. Charles 
Mynn Thruston of Mount Sion, Frederick (now Clarke) county, Va. , who 
was a young lieutenant with Washington at Fort Duquesne, and a distin- 
guished officer of the Revolution. Seven sons and four daughters were the 
fruit of this alliance. His eldest son, Charles, became a lawyer and farmer, 
and settled first at Romney, Hampshire county, Va., and afterward in Freder- 
ick county, where he died about the year 1870. He married Miss Bronaugh, 
of Loudoun county, Va. Archibald, the next in age, after his graduation 
at William and Mary College, married Miss Page, daughter of Governor 
Page of "Rosewell," Gloucester county, Va. , and settled on his farm ad- 
joining "The Meadows," where he died at an early age. John, after 
practicing law for a few years at W^inchester, purchased the old home, 
"The Meadows," and continued to reside thereuntil after the late v^:n 
He became a prominent and influential citizen of his county, holdi-^g vr;:" 
ous positions of honor and trust, and died at an advanced age. xxe marrivd 
Miss Glass, a daughter of Maj. Robert Glass, of Frederick county, 
fred, the next in age, selected medicine as his profession, in which he . o 
came eminent. He was a professor in the University of Virginia. He 
married the eldest daughter of Jud^-e Henry St. George Tucker, of Win-' 
Chester, Va. He died many years ago. Henry became a prominent physi- 
cian at Leesburg, Va., and married the eldest daughter of Hon. Temple 
Mason of Temple Hall near that place. He died in 1847. Augustine 
became an eminent lawyer in Louisiana. He married a daughter of David 
Weeks, a prominent citizen and wealthy planter of St. Mary's Parish, 
Louisiana; he died at the age of forty. Buckner became a surgeon in the 
United States navy and died young unmarried. The eldest daughter, 
Elizabeth, married Augustine C. Smith, of the "Hackwood Park" family, 
who became a colonel in the United States army and, after his resignation 
in 1817, a prominent lawyer and public man at Winchester, Va. His 
second daughter, Anne, married Thomas Turner Fauntleroy, a prominent 
lawyer at Warrenton, Va., who became a distinguished general in the 
United States army. He resigned his commission when Virginia seceded 
from the Union and offered his services to his native State, for which 
loyalty and devotion he received the thanks of its legislature. The third 
daughter, Mary, married Robert Lee Randolph of "Eastern View," 
Fanquier county, Va. , a prominent and highly esteemed citizen of that county. 
The four^^ daughter, Frances, married twice. Her first husband was 



804 HISTORY OF THE LCJWER SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 

Thomas Gordon, a prominent citizen of Tallahassee, Fla., and her last 
husband was Alfred Thruston, of Washington, D. C. , a son of Judge 
Buekner Thruston, of that city. 

The descendants of these sons and daughters of Col. Magill are almost 
legion, and, scattered as they are throughout many states, they are to be 
found filling prominent positions on the bench, at the bar, in the ministry, 
in medicine, in the field of education, in literature, in the army and navy, 
in commerce and agriculture, and in various industrial pursuits. And, 
wherever they are to be seen, they cherish with pride and reverence the 
memory of an ancestor who scorned a paternal inheritance which forbade 
that he should join the patriots of the Revolution in their heroic struggle 
for independence, and whose career as soldier, statesman, lawyer, citizen 
and friend, has transmitted to his posterity a name honored and beloved, 
without spot or blemish. 

Newton Swaetz, farmer, P. O. Winchester, was born in 1840. He is 
^he son of Joseph and Mahala (McDonald) Swartz, who were the parents of 
1.1 children, of whom eight are living. Joseph Swartz, father of Newton, 
was a miller by occupation; for many years he was a wagoner in Tennes- 
:' , Lr/in his later years he engaged in farming, in which he was reason- 
tiiwy succeoe'ful. He died in 1884 at the age of eighty-four years. His 
wife died in 1856, aged fifty-six years. Newton Swartz is engaged in 
the milling business, and at his father's death he became the possessor of 
the homestead. In 1866 he was married to Rebecca, daughter of Robert 
Barr. They have four children: Li Hie, Mary, Robert and Frank. Mr. 
Swartz owns sixty acres of land. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church South, and is a democrat. 



INDEX 



PAGE. 

AImI. J.N 291 

Adams & McCarty 792 

Ailains, L. A ,...'.. 793 

Adiuiis, John D 779 

Aiiains, Joliu S 779 

Ailaiiis, Martin M 760 

Adams, Tlioiiuis 7G0 

Adams, William W 748 

Advertisements, Old 263, 270 

\tllork, I'liilipJ 501, 753 

\'jassiz. Prof 28 

A_'iiiiiltui-al Associations 215, 387 

Ml ill, M. H 787 

-\ll)urtis, Caj)t. E. G 358,436. 690 

\.le.\aiider, Wni. R .701 

Vllrn, Edgar 609 

All^'ii, Kev. Benjamin 290. 3R1 

Vll.'ii. David H 009 

Vlstadt, J.ilui M 434 

Viidcrson, ('has. W 790 

A.ndt rson, I). H.- 791' 

Vndeison, (4eo. M 796 

Viidrrws. Kev. Ohas. W., D. D 382 

Ashiuv. tJishop Francis 304 

A >Id) S.Thomas..."**-. rr-r 448, 462 • 

A'^ldn. Gen. Turner 192,448,518, 528 

A i. kiiison, John M. P., LL. D 561 

\;l<inson, Rev. Thos., D. D 660 

Ai l<iiison. Rev. Wm. Mayo, D. D 

205, 559, 5<'>1 to 564 

vtkinson. Hon. Wm. M 182, 564 

ViiiiustaCo 19 

Avis, Capt. John 436 

Aycrs, Riifus A 496 

I'.ai on, Friar 395 

Haetjer, Henry 790 

Bageanr. A.Jackson 681 

Bailey, .Tno. W 779 

Bailev. Robt 270 

Bailey, Wm 779 

Baker, Alljert 624 

Baker, Maj. Alexander 680 

j«'iu-i>'- » M (y>4 

I'.aker, Mi». A "'.'.'.'.'. .. " 4u 

Baker, Camillus o.. . g24 

Baker. I^auiel .' . . . Tftt^' 

ISakei-. Ed\\-in S ..':.:::'.. 'iU 

Bak.'r Family. . .fi22 to 624 

Baker, Henry . .... 785 

Baker. Henry S . . ■■si, m 

Bnker, H. H .. G34 

i'.aker. .Taeoh ..623 

Kaker, John -i>6. 375 

naker, Joseph ... 785 

;'.al<er, Eobt.L... ..215 

Daker, .Sarnl B... ... 215 

riaker, Wm. B. . . i23, 624 

J;aker. Wm. H 624 

isalrli. Hon. L. P. W 351 

Baldwin. Rebecca T 699 

il.ilniaine. Rev. Alexander ... "jflfv. .... 199, 361 

fSaltimore & Ohio H. 11 214, 277, 312 

Baltinioi-e & Potomac R. R 187 

Banks, Gen. X. P 520 

i?aptist Church, First .... 58 

Barbour, Alfred M 425 

y, Aaam 7<56 



J'AGE. 

Barr, Oscar 7S0 

Barrett. Vienj . 7s3 

Barrett, Joel 782 

Barton Faiiii) v 578, 579 

l^aiton, Rolit. T t,.^.. 579 

Battletown .7 481 

Bavhs, M. E 773 

Bayhs, Th(^mas 773 

Baylor Family G33. 634 

Baylor, George 368, 634 

Baylor, Col. Robt. W 348, 435, 437. 444 

Beattie, Col. Heniy : 137 

Beckiiaiii, Fontaine 435 

Beckwith, Hon. Frank 352, 36S 

Bedingei-, Capt, Daniel 25S, 598 

Bedinger, Maj. Henry, 260, 334, 373, 398, 411, 413, 587 

Bediuger, Michael 409 

Beemer, John W 456 

Beeson, Edward , 220 

Belvoir 477 

BKRIvELEY Coun"ty ... ; 219 

Clerks of - 295 

Grand Jury, First 227 

Jnstices 223, 234 

~ Justices of the Peace . 292 

Levy, First '....228 



Offle( 



.224. 21 



Barley, 

Barnes, .Joseph. . 
Barnett. J. F. . 
Barr, Robt. . 



401, 406, 40t) 
71 + 



• Poll List (1788) ,. . ., 

Seal , ., ..' 

Sheritfs 

Berkeley, Lord : 16, 17. 

Berkeley, Xorl)ovne 220. 

Berrv, Benjamin 

Berryvili.e 

Additions to. . ^ 

Banks |. 

Churches 1 491 to 

City Officers 

Courts 

Incorporation 

Mayors ;. .. 

Newspapers 

Schools 499. 

Secret Societies 

Bilhngs, Rev. Silas 

Boarman. Rear Admiral Chas 

13,^1 1'.'f.v 

Boli\ rir Heights ....:.■■ j 

Bond. Jno. L .'. ' " ' 

Boteler, Hon. Alex. R 323, 394, iMrix.'. ' -i 

Boteler, Capt. Henry 

Boteler, Dr. Henry "v;, 

Botts,Cai)t. L.: 

Bowen, Richard 

Bowley, Mrs. George W . . 

Bo^vroan, Abraham 

Boyce 

Boyd, Rev. A. H. H., D. Ij ...n, 572, 674. 

Boyd, Gen. Kli.sha 272,274; 

Bovd, E. Holmes 

Brackett, Prof. Nathan 

Braddock. Maj.-' Jen. Edward. 

Bragg, ArthuV N 

Braithwaite, Wiilinn 1' 
Branson, l)a\1ci Y" 
Branscm, .foseph, . 

Branson. Reese 

Brent, George 

Brexton Female Seminary 




>f. 



806 



Broaddus, Rev. ■fuli;ia 

Bromley. John 

Brooks, Ko 

Bri^oks, Sheplierd 

nroM'n, Forrf'st W 

ijiipnn. (Uistov 

Dii>\\u, .ToliiL 

Brown, I'owell. .... 

Brown, li. R 

Brown, Robert T 

I^i'own. S. Howell ... 

Brown. William 

15roA\ n, AVillia)ii H 

Brown, ^\ilsou L 

Brown s Kaid, Jno. 
Brumback, Dr. Isaa 

Brunswick Co 

Bryan, Rev. C. B. 
Buchanan, John 1. 
Bn.'kles. Mrs. C. l>.. 
Buildinu. First In Vallr^ 

Bnl!ett.\'apt 

Biillskiu Creek 

Biillskin Tract 

Buucutter. Jno. H. 

Bunker Hill 

Burue. James 

Burton. James H 

Rinwoll. Col. 'Natliaiuel 

Burwt'li. Philip 

Burwell. Thomas H. . . 

Bush, Pliilip 

Butler, AV.G 

Buttcrtield. Gen. Carlos 
Butlerfieid, Mre. M. A . 

Byrd, R. F. J 

Cabot, John 

Cadwallitder. James 
Caldwell. Foster. 
Caldwell, .lames. 
Caldwell. S. li. T 

Calmes. A. M 

< 'ahnes, <ieori;e C 

Calnies. '^la.i. F. H 

Ca!me'<. ( ' Ml. Marquis. . 
Cahiifs, \l .-j. Marquis.. 
(ampUe'j.. v'apt. Anure\ 
Campbell, l.ieiJ. E. H . . 
Cantei'bury, George, Lord ArcliI 

Carr. Jolni 

Carrinston.. Edw. C 

C.'irtniell I'amily 

CartU'eli. Titomas V . 
Cart»M', <;eort!.c 11 . 

Caner, Josepli 

(■"■r.cr. Col. Koljeii 

' .. T>Iiss Siira.li ii . . . 

i':!;ier. William a 

Carter, (apt. Wiillai'ii V-diir 

Castleman. .Mr.s. Ann 1! 

('a«t-]t'man. Cliarles McC. 
• •■ man, Maj. l<avid .. 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 
. . . 493, 653 

455 

52 

386 

...368, 705 

368 

.429 to 446 

51 

795 
v.". 350^ 351 
....51, 3G8 

231 

....... 7281 

728 ( 

... 433 
... 725 
... 18 
... 504 
... 496 
.... 687 

51 

... 118 
... 58 
... 79 
... 795 
315 



...612 to 614 
.464.484, 649 

649 

650 



Water System 

CharlestOMTi Blues 

Cherry, Dr. E. 1- 

Cheri-y, Capt. A\ illiam 

CJiesapeake & oiiio Canal Company 

Chew, Col. K. I'reston 368, ;!69. 

Chickcouu 

Chlvers, Sidney 

- Chrlsman, Jaeob 56. 

Civil War, The 

Clagett. VViUiam B 

Clarke Counxv. .* 

Attorneys 4.51, 

Courts -ir/). 

Grand Jmy, First 

Justices. 453, 

Officers ..450. 

Prison Boimds w '. — 

Sheriffs 

Clarke, Gen. George Rogers 

Clark. Hon. W. L 182, 

Clayton, Da\1d L 

Clayton. Jno. H. C 

Clevt'uger. Jam s T 

Clowe, Henry W 

Coal Mines ' 31, 

Cockburn, Robert 

Coe, Craven .• 

Coe. Jno. C 

Coe, William 

Cohongor' ;ton (Potomac) 19 



% 



657 

IG 

75S 



50- 
75J 
44s 
5ij:; 
5ifJ 
4.01 
5<)J 
.5*1. 
4i>-: 
451 . 
4.57 
19.5 
78 ; 
781 



424 
27(i 
231 



:ian, Willi; 
.iMues.. 



292 

.:'T4. 575 

... 574 

.177 

. . 10 

691 

i77 

177 

501 

594 

497, .502, 594 

593, 594 

593 

:;. 80, 448. .590 
1 L', 74. 75, 83, 85 

436 

>i«hop of 12 

483 

.... 3.59 

:.5tO G79 

... 676 

... 626 

.. m 



. i 744 
... -..t» 

705 

706 

743 

.109, i>94, 610, 611^ 



178 — College, First Estaldlshed. 



ciioiii'iierlaiM, Rev. j. y, 
Chani!>ei-s, Antliony S. 
. CliarnMiu, Thomas s.. 
('lui[>Une, .Ips(?j)h .\ 
('iiai)Uue, \vi!liain 
Cn.\i:i.EsT()\\ \ . 

Attorneys. 

Businesses 

Churches. . 

Citj- Officers 

Kst'ablished 

(ras Works .... 

J*ewsp,ii>ers .. 

Schools 

Secrc't Societies 

Trustees 



Colhns. Rev. Christopher. 

Collonade Bridge; Destroyed 

Colston, ICdward 275, 343, 

.Colston I'amily .... 

Colston, John T 

Colston, Raleigh 254. 

Colston. Capt. W. B 

Colmnbus, Christopher 

Commission Fac-smiile of 

Conrad. David Holmes 

Conrjid. Holmes ; 

Conrad. .Ino. 

Conrad. Robt. Y 181, 350, 

Cooke. Hon. Giles, Jr 456, 497, 

Cooke; John listen . . 465, 

Cooper. Henrv 

Cooper, Henry 1. . 

Cooper. Sunui'l. 

Cooper, AVatson c. 

Coontz. Clias. \\ 

Cornstalk, Indian Chieftain 40, 42, 

(?ossaf'k Celebration. 

Co\ er. Thomas 

'■"'' '"'.x. iibene^er 

. Friend ,-• 

. \, Prof. J. A 'i''- 718 to 

ii..:o voyle, ,ino. M. 

fVaivp.- 1)1' ; .tuijuel ..I. . . 

Crawfof-u, Col. Wm 

Cresap. Capt. Aliehael 

Cros.s-Keys, Battle of , 

Crow, Miehael. 

Crown, J. u : 

29 4 Culler, Rev. M. L 

f 1788 (Adoption of New Const'n) i 62 ; Cumlierl.vnd Valley Branch of Peun. K. R. . . . . 

Cmmiu.iiham's Chapel • 463, 

Curtis, .lonathan ... 7.5. 

Dame, Rev. Xelsou R 

Darke, Gen. William 251, 315, 337, 3.56. 

Dajrkesville 



IT 
364 
515 

6:3:' 

63S 
30- 
63S 

64n 
W 
4i7 
571 
57:: 

1.54 



. 140. 209 
......... 209 

.286,287, 291 

749 

... 351 



51 I IWvenport, Braxton 345,442, 

53 */I>:ivenport, Col. H. B 76. ;U7. ;',iii. 4:iC, 585, 

''° ■ Davis. Albert 



6'.ii. 
8:; 
19v 
41:; 
SJ." 
5>-''. 



353 

368 

,3.58 i Davis, P. Seiliert, D. I) 

r.ci to .365 I I)a\ls. Dr. TTiomas 



>!(57, 3i>8 

..355 

... 369 

;;57, 366 

. . . 366 



Davis. Wm. A., M. D... 
Daw. Sir Hiuuphrey . . . 

Deahl. David 

Deahl, Henrj' 

Dean, John H 

Deannont, Washington 
' 'eatrick. H N 



36s 
201 

27] 
m2 
M'J 
794 
794 
703 
748 
29) 



r ^ **v.Ai.v-*-oK»» 



<vi/ 



t» 



INDEX. 



811 



Rutliei'ford, Thomas . 

Ryley, Patrick 

Saratoga 

•Sarafi Zane," The... 

t,i;e, H. B 

;i^(\ I^ycnrgiis E. 
:'ia<ft'ei-, Emanuel, 
rscheuer. Tvouis 



- ].s- 

7y3 

793 
368 
"59 

Scott. Judtte John '.'.'.'..'.'..'.[.'... .'.1i50 

Sea iJovcrs of the North 10 

.Secf s.sioii by Virprinia 510 

Servants Indentiii-ecl 75, 76, 85, 160, 2.33 

■^iiaiigliai 315 

!'1>, Col. Tiiomas I.., 515 

\anees Indians 40 

' I niidoah . I unction 393 

Slienandoal) Land and Impt. Co., The 215 

Shenandoah University.' 501 

Sheuaiidoali VaUey Dir, ing Park 503 

Sheplienl, Caut. Abraham 324, 372, 374, 413 

.Shepherd ( '«jllege 385 

Sheplierd. David 226 

Shepherd, Mis. Elinor 411 

Sheplierd, Henry i;4l to &W 

Shepherd, K. D 386 

Shepherd, Tiiomas 51, 57, 227, .370 

Shepherd, Rev. T. B > 364 

Shkphekdstown 309 

Additions 374 

Banks.. 388 

( Churches • 380 to 3f<5 

City Olfioers 373 

Fire Drpartment ._, 374, 386 

Incorpi)ratiou 376 

Newspapers 374, 387 

' Schools :J86 

Secret Societies 386 

Shepherdstown Troop 4.36 

•Sheridan's Kide 213, r43, 554 

Sherrai-d, .Judge J. H. . . 176, 466 

Shields, .J. Hayes C. B 455 

Shiras, Rev. Alex 491 

Showers, P 292 

Shull, B. C 771 

Shutt, A. P 291 

" 7.50 

7.J0 
401 



Silver, John M 

Silver. Zcphcniah 

Sinclair. Sir .John 

Siugliass, Christian W. 

Sir .John's Run 401 

.Skelding. John 235 



Slagle, tl. S 

Slagle, Henry S 

Slaves, First F'reed 

Slavery '.. . 

Cause of War 

Adv. for Slave 

Small-pox in Winchester. 

Siiiellie, J. W 

Smitli, Col. Augustine C. 
Smith, Dr. Augustine J.. 

Smith, A. Magdl, MA L'i2. 671 

Smith, Rev. P.enj. Bosworth 362 

Smith. Mrs. B. F 721 

Smith, Edw. J .746 

Smith, German 788 

^niith, J.-'.mes E 762 

•*■ , (Jen. John 

136, 138, 142, 161, 162, 166, 227, 067 

ih,John B. D 275 

■Miiith. J. H 54 

Smitli, Mansou P 762 

Smith.. Gen. Pevton .v 174 

Smitli, R. G 789 

Smith, Squire Treadwell 4.51 

Smiths of " Shooters Hill," Th« om to 672 



215 
''47 
■•37 
.■i05 
.T09 
485 
121 
722 
069 
069 



Smith. Wilham D., 
Smol<e. T)r. Edw. B 
Sny<ler, Daniel C , . 
Snyder, Da\1il r 
Snyder, H. L. 
Soldiers' Rest . 
" •■■•ers, John !• . . 
ngler, Charles B 



746 
732 
G55 
6.50 
388 
459 
684 
778 



PAGE. 

Spottswood. -Gov. Alexander 18, 49, 53 

Spottsvlvauia County 17 

St.Geoigfs Chapel :.. 360 

Staymaii, M. J 794 

Steamboar. First 395, 417 

Steck. .rohn M 698 

.Steck, Dr. M 697 

Steele, Robert rrrrr:.-r>.,^„T-^.—-rr:r.r-r:-7SS 

Stephen, Gen. Adam 119, 219, 224, 229, 235, 

•J4J. ;'.:i-J. 
Stephens City . 
Stephens. T.ewi 
Stephens. Petei 

Steplu'usiiu, Hu;:i. . 

Stephenson, Heni> 

Stei)lu']isi)n, John 

Stephen.-Du, Richard 

Stewart, Juliana 

Stick ley. Abraliam ... 

Stickley. David 709 

Stlcklev Familv 709 

Sticklev. Dr. S; M .„ 723 

Stone. Dr. R. ^V :(Kt 

Stones ail Cemettiv _■ in 

Storer ( 'ollege " 127 

Storer, John 4J7 

Stottltinyer, George H 77C 

Strcbling, Sarah t.'^n 

StH'it. James B 7?i 

Strider, I. H 348 

Stridcr, S. V. B r.-- 

Strikcr. Hugh B 

Stiother, Col. .John.. . 
Stuart. Gen. J. E. B. 

Stubldefield, -lames 

Stubbs, Rev. Robert 

Summit Point 

Suter, Rev. Henderson 

Swart/.. Newton 

■Swea i" , - iMi . r )i. Joseph i 



:»7 

210 
217 

or. 
324 
795 

so:; 

<01 



.57,119,2111, ii25, i/iji, -yri 

57, 220, 231, 236 

16 



Sw 

S^li' 

Tabii : ui 

Tanner. 1. m: 

Tate. Ma). 

Taverns, \n[' •: i.'^.. \7f< 

Tavlor, Edmund 139- 

Tavlor, Dr. Samuel, .-r" 576 • 

Taxes \n:: 

Iui8i;-. : jv.; 

Theatrii-als jc.^i 

Thespian SoMf^ty. The 17.' 

Thomas. .\ndi ew J Ton 

Thomas. Loid Culpepper .'d 

Thomas. Gov. Francis: i"i.~> 

Thomas, Goo. C v.: 

Thomas. Rev. Heni-y :".■. 

Thomns, .Tames W 7r.., 

T,K)ni|ison. .lohn L...'. tm: 

Throuiuorton, Rt)liert 

Thriiston, Buckner ; 

Tliniston, Charles . ; 

Thiuston, Col. Cliarh-^ M. 



. 123, 130, 165, 196. 
"■.01,449,461.797 to S''i 

Thruston, .rohn 798 

Tidball. Tlionui - . 109, 192 

Timberlake. Ami )ri > >f' 093, 69 1 

Timberlake, Thomas W' 63.5 

Tobacco, Introduction of and y:\h\o ... 12, 17. 75 

Travers. \V. H . .308. 681 

Trmiip. Rev. C. S ..... 301 

Trussell, J.N 370, 69? 

Tucker, Itcv. Dallas 362 

Tucker, Judge Henry St. George 174, 194, 195 

Turner, George W 435 

Turner, Judge Robert H 195 

Tyng, TUiv. Dudley .V .362 

United Staf's National Militarv Cemeterv . 210 

Valley Female College. The. ' " n? 

Valley Tumnike Co .14 

VanFossen Oapt. J. C r--:: 

Vannieter, .folui. 
Van Meters. Th' 



:^§? 



,.-i>. 



.VI 



INDEX. 



/ 



Vespuciiis, Americvis 

Vcstall, William and Jolr.i 

VirL;iiiia. Centinel. 

Miciiii:! Gazt-Ue 

A iiy,iiii;i. ropliUition of ill 1754 . 
Voii Kini^liaiz. TJieodore. . . 
Voorhees, Hon. Daniel ^^'. . 

AVaKgoner, Andrew 

Waite, Olied 

Waketielil, K. C 

Ualker. «ren. J. G 

\Val]ci>-i\ (ieu. Lew . 
\Valli(il(\ Horace. . . 
\\'u:ileii. P.enjaiiv.u. 

'.'.allien, Jacob. 

Wasliiiijilok, Bushi'od C 

Wasliiiiglon, (Jliarlf s 322, 

Washington, Gftu. George.. 58, 62, 100, 
.]*, 11-1. 12.5, 130, 228, 327, 338, 

Washington, .Joiin A 

Washiugti-ii, Mcij. Lawrence... 81, 90, 

Wasiiiu'^t 111. Col! Lewis W 

Wasliiijfii )ii. K. P .". 

VV.'ishiiigton, Col. Samuel 123, 227, 

Wa-ihiugton, Col. ■\Viiliam Augustine. 

ANashinjrton & Ohio Kailroad 

WisliinjitoiTs Hut , 

Watt, .lames 

Wf'ii , J.aaies ' ■ 
W.'iv, R. K.. . 
Welshans, Ji 
Wernwa^r, Lewis. 

West. I high 

Westenli.iver. D. ( 
w e.^teuhavor & BoyiT 
W.'stiiiorclarnl Couiity . 

\\ -ver FaiMily 

Wlieat, Kev. '.i. C, D. 1». 
^\ iHi.i.iD. Kev. Yinoent. . 

\- I'i^k'y liisniTOotion 

~' ' • ■ -0, Harrison r ^ 

.!', Nirnrod f. 

iioi). .V!exander..HS, ifi?. 1<J2, 
M. M 

;)ert 

;:obeft., 

• ■. ■■•■. .ri.';-.i B., n. '•' 

W hite I'usr 

Wl.ittlp^py. Charles 

'"■' ■ iteiiry 

itui Mary, College oi 

■-. Be. E.C 

.~. .lohnC 

~, -Tohn.J 

x.i'o]. OtlioH... 

'■i-i!io 

. William. 
'in. Hnuii . 



I'AGE. 

10 

.58 

. 1.52 
151 
104 
7^*2 
445 

123 

343 

4in 

.621, 622 

.540 

332 

. 740 

749 

351, VjO 

353, 355, 578 
110, 115, 
404, 40.S.-47S 

578 

322, 353, .^58 

4»4. 442 

430 

234, 235, 
236, 322, 578 

140, 141 

. 214 
, 460 
. 399 
. 682 
.. 682 
.347- 
.. 425 
. 119 
.". 637 
.. iV2 
. 17 
. 6SC 
.. 212 
.303 
142 

760 

752 

225, 252, 356 

205 

565 

..'56.5, 5ftS 
..569 
.. 504 
. 405 
.. 7C1 

';, 22<,) 



74, 



PAOK. 

Wllmer, Rev. William H. . 491 

Wilson, Alexander 254 

Wilson, .John , 4O0, 795 

Wilson. Rev. T. J 305 

Wilson. William L 367 

WlXCHESTEK 90 

Additions 121 

Banks . . 215 

Churches ., 198 to 209 

City Otlicers 180 

Fire I>epartment. ,...155,214 

Gas Works 188 

Incorporation 147 

IVbiyors ; lt>0 

IS'evvspapers -. 151, i77 

Population 170 

Schools 148. 211 

Secret So -leties ■. 215 

Watei System 171 

Winchester & Potomac Railroa^l 214 

Wincli'ster & .Strasburg Raib-oiui 214 

Wise. Gov. HeilrV A 195, 210 

WiseiM. A ' ■ 707 

Wisner, J. Nelson ?n5, 297. 312 

Wissler.F.H 787 

Wizard Clip 388 

Wolfe, Kev. Beiuard C 257 

Wood, Cliarlrs L „ 776- 

Wood, Daniel T ....? 778- 

Wood. Col. .James. . .71, 75, 76, 86, 91, 122, 196, 252 

Wood. (icn. .lames , 19(; - 

Wood, Ottiwell , 777/ 

Wood. Tiiomas 777/ 

Woods. Rev. F. M 308 

Woodville. W 278 

Worcester, IVIarqnis of 39t) 

Wormlev. Ralph 58, 220. 4.S4 

Wortham, Dr. .T. B •.. .. 790 

J, Worthiaf ton. Robert. 226 

W'ortiug, John II 216 

WotiinK, Maj. Daniel E 715 

AVotrinj,'. .ToHii H 710 

Wright, (ien. H. G 546. 553, .554 

AVright, .Tolm W 695 



83 
404 
200 
270 
727 



Wriirlit, Mrs: M.' Catherine 

Wri-lit, P. Sensenv 

Wrii.ht, Rachel A.' 

Wriglit. Gen. Robeii ',. 
Wyatt, fsir Fran..is 
Wynkoop, Gei)r:;t' '-'. 
Yeackley, Marfhi J 
Yeackley, Wilhaiu 1. 
Yeaidley, Sir (ieorgv 

Yoiiii!,', C. A 

Yoim.ir. Daniel 

Yo ing. Rev. ,)ohn David 

Zaue Col. K 

Zane, Col. Is;i;<.c. . 
Zane. Miss Sar.'.h 
Zittle, .JohiiH 
Zion EjHSi.'apa; 
Zuni ludiai'.s. 



iU3 



i.-'U, 



.136, 



786 

12 

292 

+25 

.;oo 

162 
189 
189 






63 



A-^ 



1 



o- 



.-J*' 



■■> V 









.^^^' ^ 



■^ •'.>'^'*>^^ 



- <^' 



-/ 



c^^' 



^,0^ 









o> 



^<^. 



C- 



^ » , 



\ 















'^r 






.0^ 



\.,^' 






"oo< 















,^^ ■^^^- , 






r>\' 



00 



<1^ 'Cl 






•^^^ 



,•0- 



.c/ 






,xV^- 



.V ./, 



\ I /I 



~^\'\ 



'^^ 



00^ 
.5 --^^ 



^# 



\'«- 






.V 



-->. 












•,/^ 



1' 'o -"^ 












•V 



^% 






'^y- v!^ 










V . 



!^- 






> •/'. 



"^. * ■ 



■s^'^ 



■^^ 


v^^ 






x° 


q<. 








"' 




1 a' 






.^■^' 


<>^ 









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